


The Way We Break And Heal

by akwardcadabra



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Arguing, Badass Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Birthday Fluff, Child Death, Crying, Depictions Of Murder Scenes, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Gavin Gets A Cat, Gavin Reed's Mother - Freeform, Gavin Reed-centric, Gen, Hank Anderson & Connor Parent-Child Relationship, Hank Anderson Is Basically Everyone's Dad, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, Mentions of child neglect, Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Cuddling, Protective Connor, Protective Hank Anderson, Sharing a Bed, She's not a good person, Swearing, Touch-Starved, Verbal Abuse, dark themes, read notes for warnings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2019-12-06 23:10:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18226658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akwardcadabra/pseuds/akwardcadabra
Summary: After Gavin gets shot while trying to keep Connor out of danger, the android offers him to stay with him and Hank for a while so he can look after the detective. In time, they get to know each other better and open up to one another. They find out a lot about Gavin that they didn't expect.Meanwhile, the three of them are also investigating cases of child abduction. These cases worry Gavin due to personal reasons.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Please read for warnings and info**
> 
>  
> 
>  **Warnings:** Part of the plot will focus on cases of child abduction and murder. While these scenes aren't terribly graphic, they are there and there are brief descriptions of the victims and the way they died. There will also be scenes in which the characters talk about child neglect and abuse. There are also some descriptions of injuries and scars.  
> So if you are sensitive to this, then I'd ask you to proceed with caution. I don't want you to have a terrible experience or even worse be triggered by these scenes. 
> 
> I don’t want to solely focus on Gavin, Connor and Hank bonding in my other fanfiction so I’m writing this one which will be for my Gavin-centric needs. It’ll take some elements from the other fanfictions like Gavin’s goddaughter but it won’t be in any way connected to the plot of it (meaning: no post de-aged Connor, no RK900 and Gavin has no cats yet, but later he gets them). 
> 
> Also if anyone wonders, I will continue my other WIPs soon.
> 
> So yeah that’s pretty much it. Obviously I don’t own any of the characters or the game.  
> Enjoy ^^

The insides of the hospital waiting area reflected the bright white lights on the ceiling, bathing the whole room in unnaturally artificial light. A few seats down to the right, an elderly lady was reading a book, occasionally checking her watch. By the door, a teenage boy was playing something on his phone, seeming bored. The young couple by the window was talking in hushed whispers. They all seemed calm, waiting for a relative or friend. 

Connor was a stark contrast to this calm. He was nervously walking up and down in front of Hank, checking his watch and announcing the time every fifteen to twenty minutes. Hank’s eyes followed him and only occasionally peered at the clock on the wall or out the window at the rapidly approaching nightfall. 

“Detective Reed has been in surgery for four and a half hours now.” Connor announced as the clock struck 7 pm.

“Yes, Connor. I know.” Hank sighed. “Sit back down, please. You’re making me feel really agitated.”

“You can go home, Hank.” Connor offered. “You must be tired and hungry. It’s been a hard case. I’ll contact you when he gets out of surgery if you want to know.”

“Of course, I want to know.” Hank whispered. “Just because we don’t get along, doesn’t mean I don’t care whether he lives or dies.” 

“You can really go home. All the other officers left. I already promised Tina, Chris and Captain Fowler that I would call them when he gets out.”

“No, Con. I’ll stay here with you.” Hank leaned back. “I’ll just step out for a few minutes to call the neighbour to tell her to feed Sumo, alright? And maybe I’ll get a quick snack on the way back.” With that, he rose from his seat.

“Alright.” Connor nodded. 

“Call me, if he gets out before I get back, yes?”

“Of course, Hank.” With that Connor sat back down, taking out his coin and starting to play with it. It was really the only thing that kept him busy and calm, except for walking up and down the waiting room. He was fairly certain that it would start to agitate the other people in there really quickly if he kept it up.

Gavin had been shot when they were trying to capture a man they suspected of being the culprit that has been kidnapping young children all over Detroit. The bullet had lodged just below his lungs, which the doctor had called ‘luck’. Connor didn’t think Gavin had been lucky to get shot but he supposed that he was lucky to be alive.

Now the suspect was at the station. He had been cleared of the kidnapping charges by now because he had a good alibi on all the occasions the children had been kidnapped on. But now he was facing different charges since he did shoot a police officer and withstood arrest.

Gavin and Connor weren’t best friends, to say the least. But Connor had gotten to like Gavin. Once they had been in the car, waiting for a suspect and Gavin had opened up to the android. After Connor had spotted a picture of a young girl in Gavin’s car, they had gotten into a conversation about her. 

That girl was Gavin’s goddaughter Ashley. She was the seven-year-old daughter of one of Gavin’s old high school friends and it seemed that he and the girl were pretty close. She spend time with him as often as she could. He had gone on and on about what a bright and curious little girl she was, how she loved animals and what her dreams for the future were. Connor had just sat there, listening and smiling.

Needless to say, Connor and Gavin had gotten closer to each other. And a few times, Gavin had even stood up for Connor. Once a woman insulted him for being a ‘heartless machine’ and Gavin had given her a piece of his mind, before dragging Connor away from her. Another time Perkins had gone off at him for ‘disturbing a crime scene’ when all Connor had done was analyse some of the blood that was found. Gavin had again stepped in, situating himself between Perkins and Connor. 

Even if they bickered at each other from time to time, Connor and Gavin had gotten to accept and even like each other’s company. Hank and Gavin’s relationship was a different story. They were still fighting but it had died down a bit. Both accepted each other’s presence and were actually pretty good at working together in the field, even if they fought when at the station.

And now Gavin was in surgery, clinging to life while Connor could do nothing but wait. He felt useless enough about not being able to protect the Detective in the field. Even if all the RK800 models got released -which lead to most of them being destroyed- he was still replaceable in the most objective sense of the word. His limbs, biocomponents and his blood could easily be replaced. He could easily and quickly be repaired after suffering such a gunshot wound, unlike a human like Gavin. 

The worst part was that Gavin had actually suffered the wound because he had been too busy telling Connor to watch out and get out of the way instead of taking cover himself. Yet Connor could do nothing but wait and hope that Gavin would be alright.

Hank reentered the room, a sandwich in his hands. He sat down and eyed the android. “Any news?”

“No, sadly not.” Connor sighed. “I feel like I did something wrong. He tried to protect me from getting shot and I couldn’t do anything to help him.”

“You did.” Hank reassured him, rubbing his shoulder. “You helped to stop the bleeding and you called the ambulance as soon as Gavin was shot.”

Connor only nodded quietly. They spend another twenty minutes like that, sitting quietly in the room with Hank eating and Connor trying to calm down by playing with his coin. Then a nurse walked in.

“I see you two waited. Detective Reed is out of surgery and in his room now. If you want to, you can go and see him. He’ll recover but if the bullet had struck a few millimetres to the left, it could have been fatal. He’s awake.” The nurse explained. “Do you want to follow me?”

Connor jumped up and Hank followed more calmly. The android was a ball of nerves and kept fidgeting with his fingers as they walked down the long, sterile corridors of the hospital.

When they made it to Gavin’s room, Connor stopped outside the door. “I thought you said he was awake?” The detective had his eyes closed.

“He probably fell back asleep. You can still go in. I’ll be going now. You know what to do if you need help, right?” She asked.

Hank nodded at the nurse. “Yes, we know. Thank you.”

With that, the nurse left and Connor and Hank slowly walked into the room. Connor felt his artificially simulated breath hitch as he saw Gavin. The man was connected to wires and machines that were continously measuring his vitals. He had an IV in his hand and an oxygen nasal cannula. Its small tube lead to somewhere next to the bed. His hair was a mess and he was covered in bruises from a previous fight with the culprit. Connor approached him slowly while Hank waited at the foot of the bed.

Hank watched the android that seemed to be very worried for Gavin. He himself was very worried for the man but Connor had actually taken a liking to the irritating detective and was considerably distraught.

“Talk to him.” Hank whispered. “Even if he’s not fully conscious, he might feel better.”

Connor nodded and reached out to brush a strand of hair from Gavin’s forehead. “I wanted to say thank you for saving me. I was really worried about you.”

To his surprise, Gavin answered, his voice rough and tired. “I’m awake.” He explained. “And it’s nothing. Officers should look after other officers.”

“But you saved me!” Connor exclaimed. “I’m easily repairable. You could have died, Gavin!” 

“Don’t beat yourself up over it.” The man whispered. “It’s half as bad. I’ll be fine. I’ve had worse.”

“No, you haven’t.” Connor sighed. “I’ve seen your record.”

“Alright, I lied.” Gavin mumbled. “I was trying to calm you down. It’s looks worse than it is. Don’t worry about me.”

“But I do.” Connor whispered. “When will you be able to leave?”

“They say if things go well and there aren’t any complications in about ten days.” Gavin whispered. “I’m so not looking forward to coming here to have them change my bandages and take my vitals like every day. I’m fine; they don’t have to look over me all the time.”

Connor looked up. “You could stay at our place for a while. That way we could check up on you, I could take your vitals and I could also change the bandages.”

“No, it’s cool. I don’t want to bother you. I mean Hank would like fucking hate his own home if I was there.” Gavin joked. “I’m a grown man. I’ll just go here every other day and let them check up on me. It’s not like it’ll go on like that forever.”

Hank interrupted. “I’m alright with that. You saved Connor’s life and I feel like I owe you big-time for that.” He explained. “And I got to admit that even if I don’t particularly like you, I would feel a bit more at ease about all of this if we could check up on you. I bet my dog wouldn’t mind having someone home with him during the day; you probably will be on leave for another week after getting out.”

“Yeah, probably. But they say I’m allowed to work on the desk, so I might do that. And I’m more of a cat person but I’ll be able to deal with a dog.”

“You have cats?” Hank asked.

“No. I wanted to get some but I never got around to doing it.”

“What do you say?” Connor asked anxiously. “Can you stay with us until you’re all healed up. It’d really ease my mind. I feel so bad about you saving me.”

Gavin looked back and forth between them and then sighed. “Alright, I will. But you two got this upon yourselves, so don’t complain about me being there. And if you try to baby me or keep me from coming to work, I will lose my mind, Connor.”

“I won’t.” The android promised. “I’ll take care of your wounds and that’ll be it. But if you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me.”

“There’s actually something you could do. Could you get me some of my things from home? You know like something to wear when I get out, sweatpants, shirts, stuff like socks or underwear and maybe something to read?” He asked.

“You read?” Hank joked. 

“Yes, I do.” Gavin retorted teasingly. “I’ll give you my keys, alright? They’re in the pocket of the jacket that’s hanging by the door over there.” He lifted one of his arms and pointed at the door before quickly dropping it. “Damn, that still hurts.”

“Still?” Hank asked incredulously. “You were shot like five hours ago. Of course, it hurts. But yeah, we can do that.”

“Thanks.” Gavin mumbled. “If you want, you can leave now.”

“No, I’ll stay a little longer.” Connor whispered and eyed the detective. “Are you thirsty or something?”

“A bit, yeah.” Gavin mumbled. “Could you get me a glass of water?”

Connor nodded and quickly filled a glass with water. He then gently placed it in Gavin’s hand. “Can you drink it yourself? Can you lift your arm?”

Gavin heaved a sigh. “I don’t think I can. It still hurts pretty badly. When I move my arm it really pulls on my chest area.”

“Let me help you.” Connor exclaimed quickly and took the glass, gently placing it at Gavin’s lips. “Just say stop if you’ve had enough.”

Gavin nodded and began to drink. Hank watched with his arms crossed and waited until they were done, before speaking. “We’ll bring in your stuff tomorrow after work, alright?”

“Yeah, thanks.” Gavin nodded and leaned back again. “You can go now, Connor. You’ve had a hard day, too. I don’t need any of you to stay with me and baby me.”

Connor eyed him and nodded. “Yes, alright. But I’ll be back to check up on you tomorrow, yes?”

“I guess.” Gavin mumbled, closing his eyes.

Connor nodded and followed Hank outside, back through the long corridors and into the big parking lot. When they had entered the car, Hank turned to Connor.

“Listen, son. You’re really nice to Gavin. But don’t let him push you around, okay? We’ll let him stay at ours for a while because he’s injured and saved you but don’t let him boss you around. You’re his colleague, not his personal servant.” Hank said sternly.

“Yes, I know that.” Connor said quickly. “I just feel like I should be there for him right now because he saved me. Now I should help him.”

“You don’t owe him shit, Connor. If he’s a dick to you, you stand your ground, yes? He’s been a dick to you in the past so he’ll probably not do a total 180 and be a totally nice dude.” Hank explained. “I think it’s great that you care for him even if he was a dick to you but don’t let him push you around because you feel like you owe him.”

“Alright.” Connor nodded. “I get what you’re saying. Let’s go home, alright?”

“We gotta pick up Gavin’s stuff on the way home, alright?” Hank mumbled. “Let’s just go to his place first. You know where he lives?”

“Yes, I do.” Connor smiled and watched as Hank started the car and began to drive.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin comes home from the hospital. Meanwhile, the investigation takes a bad turn which leaves everyone on edge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **For warnings about the content, please read the note on the first chapter**
> 
>  
> 
> I had already finished the second chapter so I'll upload it now. The next one will come soon.  
> I hope you enjoy ^^

Connor held open the door as Gavin slowly made his way into Hank’s house. He watched the man intensely, ready to swoop in and help should he fall. But Gavin made his way to the couch without any problems and carefully sat down, holding his right chest.

“Are you alright?” Connor asked gently. “Do you need painkillers?”

“Yeah, that’d be great.” Gavin mumbled, leaning back and taking deep breaths.

Hank eyed him and whistled for Sumo to come to him instead of sniffing at Gavin. “I’ll take the dog for a walk. Wanna come, Con?”

“No, I’ll stay with Gavin for now. I’ll go with you next time.” He explained.

Hank nodded and left with Sumo. Connor sat down on the couch next to Gavin. 

“Here you go.” The android whispered. “Hopefully, they’ll help.”

Gavin nodded and popped the pill into his mouth before drinking some water to wash it down. “Thanks.” He sighed once he had swallowed. “You don’t have to sit and watch me. You can go and do whatever you normally do when you’re home.” Gavin mumbled. “I don’t need constant attention. I’ve learned to take care of myself at a young age. I can look after myself.”

“Why?” Connor asked before he could stop himself. He quickly back paddled and tried to save the situation. “Sorry, you don’t have to answer if it’s a sensitive topic. I mean if you want to talk about it you can but you don’t have to.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m over it.” Gavin mumbled. “My mom was really neglectful. She accused my dad of being verbally abusive to get custody but she never actually cared for me. My dad didn’t want to get in trouble and stayed away; understandably so. But long story short: I learned how to take care of myself at a young age.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” Connor whispered. “But we’ll take care of you now, alright? Are you hungry?”

“Yeah, kind of.” Gavin mumbled.

“I’ll make you something. How about mac and cheese?” Connor suggested and got up. “Would you like that?”

“Yes, but I can help.” Gavin offered.

“No, I’ll do it!” Connor exclaimed. “You stay here and relax. It’s the least I can do to make up for you getting shot.”

Connor then went into the kitchen and started to cook for Gavin and Hank. He decided to make a salad to go with it since he had long since decided to get Hank to eat more healthy. And even though Hank complained, he didn’t refuse to eat the healthy food Connor made. It was probably for Connor’s sake. The android figured that healthy food would do Gavin some good, too.

Given the fact that he just learned how Gavin had to always care for himself, he was more than happy to cook something for him and care for him. A part of Connor hoped that they would get a little closer in the future and that Gavin would open up to him but he couldn’t force the man to do so. Thus he settled with gently trying to invite him to talk about his past. Maybe if he talked about his past and they helped him sort through his issues, Gavin might be a little happier and they could all be closer to one another.

After half an hour, Connor was done with lunch and sat down on the couch next to Gavin, handing him a plate. The man flashed him a little smile and took the plate, starting to eat. 

The door opened and Hank came back in. “Oh, you made lunch?”

“Yes, I made mac and cheese and salad.” Connor nodded and pointed at the kitchen. “You can take some, too. I made enough.”

“Thanks, son.” Hank said gently and took the leash off of Sumo, letting him wander off to sleep somewhere. He then got some food himself and sat down on the couch. “I got the salad. Are you happy?”

“Yes, very.” Connor smiled brightly. “Eating healthy is good.”

Hank laughed a little. “Yes, Con. I know. There isn’t a day that passes where you don’t tell me.” He shook his head. “Nice of you to cook for Gavin, too.”

“I mean he’s injured.” Connor shrugged. “Cooking for him wasn’t really hard work since I was already cooking for you.”

Gavin looked up from his food. “Thanks for that, Connor.”

“No problem.” The android smiled and watched as the two men kept eating. This living arrangement would not be as bad as Hank had feared it would be.

\---

The next day was the first day of Gavin being back at the station and even if he was only doing paperwork, he was glad to be able to work again. When he entered the bullpen, all his co-workers greeted him and expressed how brave he had been and how happy they were to see him getting better.

But Gavin knew that it was only because he had saved Connor. Had he not saved the android that all of them had come to like so dearly and had he just gotten injured without doing so, they would all not be as concerned. Tina and Chris would maybe be concerned but they wouldn’t have been so happy to see him back.

Even Fowler welcomed him back, telling him how brave he had been and how glad he was to have Gavin on the team. But Gavin knew that it was only because he had saved Connor. Had he not saved the android that had become so useful to the investigations and an important part of every case, he would have not been this happy to have Gavin back.

Nonetheless, he thanked them and went to his table. The day went by without anything important happening. All Gavin did was file paperwork and get coffee, water or food delivered to his desk by Tina or Chris. His day took a turn for the worse when Hank and Connor approached him.

“Just giving you a heads-up that we will be heading out to a crime scene.” Hank explained. “In case you need anything.”

“No, I’m good. Another missing child?” Gavin asked, concern seeping into his voice. 

“No.” Connor said, his expression serious. “A body was uncovered. One of the missing children was found dead by a man this morning. He found the child in the woods while he was walking his dog.”

Gavin froze for a second and then nodded. “Do you need me to come with you?”

“You should stay here.” Hank said. 

“I can come with you. Three pairs of eyes are better than two. It’s not like I’m chasing after suspects or fighting criminals. All I’ll be doing is looking over a crime scene and getting fresh air.” He shrugged. Connor seemed unsure but Gavin threw another point at him. “Come on. I have a young goddaughter. I wanna find the culprit as soon as possible.”

“Alright.” Connor said. “I’ll just have to talk to Captain Fowler about it first.” With that, he left to talk to the police captain.

Hank eyed Gavin. “A goddaughter?”

“Yes, her name is Ashley. She’s the daughter of a high school friend of mine. She’s seven now and will soon get into third grade.” He felt a small smile tug on his lips. “She’s really bright and one of the best in her class. Wanna see a photo of her?”

Hank raised an eyebrow. He had never seen Gavin so proud of anyone. The man seemed to really love his goddaughter, so of course, Hank decided to play along and agree. “Sure.”

Gavin pulled out his wallet and showed him a picture of him and a little girl at the aquarium. She had long dark brown hair and bright green eyes. She was smiling at the camera with a toothy grin and Gavin had an arm wrapping around her, smiling gently. Hank couldn’t help but smile, telling himself that it was the girl he was smiling about. She seemed like a nice kid, after all, and her smile reminded him of the good times he had spent with his son.

“She looks very sweet. Does she like fishes?”

“Yes, but she loves all animals. Her favourites are cats.” Gavin smiled absentmindedly. “She has been bugging her mom to get one for months now.”

“Connor likes fishes, too. They’d have a lot to talk about.” Hank joked.

“I have a lot to talk about with whom?” Connor asked as he approached the two men. “Are you talking about Ashley?”

“We are.” Hank said. “Gavin showed me a pic of her.” He then nodded. “Well, what did Fowler say?”

“He said if the doctor has given the okay and Gavin won’t overdo it, he’d let him come with us.” Connor explained.

Gavin got up and grabbed his stuff. “Great. The doctor said physical activity is fine if it isn’t too much.”

With that, they headed out to the edge of the town where the girl’s body had been found. When they arrived, there were police cars everywhere and an officer waved them over, motioning for them to park at the right side of the road. Hank did so and they all got out of the car, walking over to the place where they had found her.

The girl was lying on her side, clutching her hands in front of her chest. Her long dark hair obscured her face and her thin frame was clad in the clothes she had worn when she disappeared.

“Do we know how she died?” Hank asked.

“Yes, it was a single gunshot to the head.” Another officer explained. “This is Hannah McNamara. She’s eight years old and disappeared two weeks ago from her parents' backyard. A man walking his dog found her around 11 am this morning.”

Connor nodded. “Are there any signs of harm being done to her before death?”

“No, apart from being a little lighter than before she disappeared, the only harm done to her was the gunshot that killed her.” The officer said. “She has obviously been feed and she looks as if she’s been able to clean herself while she was away.”

“So they hold the kids captive somewhere.” Hank concluded. “But if they aren’t harming them in any other way, the question of why they are being held captive remains.”

“Are there any clues on whether or not she was in contact with the missing boy? The one that went missing about a week ago?” Connor inquired. “His name was Julien Byrne.” 

“Yes, in fact, we found hair on the girl’s jacket that could belong to Julien. It’s blond just like his hair. The analysis will tell us more.”

“I’ll analyse it.” Connor said and picked up a strand of hair with a pair of tweezers he had taken from the officer. He scanned the hair and then proclaimed. “It’s Julien’s hair. So she was held captive with him.”

The officer nodded. “Thanks, Connor. What would we do without you?” He then turned toward the other officers that were looking around the area. “I’ll let the station know, yes? If you find anything, let me know.”

Connor nodded and watched as the man left. “Then I say we look around to see if we find any other clues.”

Hank nodded and turned to Gavin. “I’ll-” He stopped when he saw the look of pure horror on Gavin’s face as he stared at the girl in front of him. His mouth was slightly open, his eyes were watering and he was breathing heavily. “Are you okay?”

“She- she looks just like Ashley.” Gavin whispered. “I knew she had the same hair and eye colour but she’s almost like her spitting image.” He turned to Connor. “What if Ashley’s next?” His breathing began to quicken.

Connor was shocked to see Gavin like this. “Gavin, Ashley will be fine. We’ll find whoever did this before they can hurt her.”

“The parents of Julien probably th-thought that the culprit would be found before their child was taken, too.” Gavin said quickly, shaking his head.

Hank saw Connor’s panic and stepped in. “Alright, how about we sit down and take a deep breath, yes? Look, there’s a police car right there. You can sit down for a few seconds and try to calm down.”

“How can I stay calm when my goddaughter could be taken at any given moment?” Gavin snapped at Hank. “I have to examine the crime scene. How else would I be able to help her? I’m fine.”

“Sit down, Gavin.” Hank insisted and put a hand on Gavin’s shoulder to guide him in the direction of the car.

“I’m fine. I just need to do my goddamn fucking work so I can catch the fucker before they hurt Ashely!” Gavin snapped at Hank.

“Sit down!” Hank bellowed and Gavin flinched before letting himself be manoeuvred into the seat. “Sorry that I had to yell at you but you need to calm down now. Ashley is at her home or at school or where she is at this time of the day. But she’s fine. And you need to take things slowly and not overwork yourself.”

Gavin stared at him for a second. He wondered when Hank had started to care about him. But it was probably just because he had saved Connor. It was like the time when Gavin was young and his cousin Nina had been visiting. Nina was his aunt's child and apparently someone his mother had actually cared about. Perhaps it was the fear of how her sister would react if anything happened to Nina but Gavin’s mother had been on her feet the whole time, making sure Nina was alright.

Then while his mother had been out getting something for dinner, Nina had hurt herself when she had knocked over a vase and cut herself on the broken glass. She had been bleeding badly and Gavin had taken it upon himself to bandage her up. When his mother had finally come back and saw that Gavin had helped her sister's precious daughter, she had actually praised him and for a split second appeared to be proud of him. The evening had been one of the best he had ever had as a child because his mother had sat on the couch with him and Nina and watched a movie with them. And at this moment Gavin had decided that he wanted to help other people in his job and become a police officer.

He looked at Hank and nodded. “I’m fine, Hank.” He assured. “Now let me look at the crime scene. Maybe we can find some evidence.” With that, he stood up. “And you don’t have to act as if you care about me because I saved Connor. I know if people actually care about me. I’ve dealt my whole life with people that didn’t care about me.”

Hank watched as Gavin slowly made his way to the girl's body and crouched down. He didn’t dare look at her face so he let Connor do that part. But he took a look at her hands and her clothes.

“She’s not dirtied up at all. Her fingernails are clean and there are no remnants of dirt or anything biological under them. She didn’t fight the person that attacked her.”

“Did she know them beforehand?” Hank wondered, crouching down next to the body.

“She spend to weeks with them and they didn’t mistreat her. Maybe she had started to trust them.” Connor mused. “I’ve noticed that you have a great overview of the city skyline from here.”

“You do.” Gavin agreed. “What about it?”

“Maybe they took her here to give her a few nice last moments.” Connor said quietly. “They could have made her look at the skyline and shot her.” He pointed at the girl. “The bullet entered her head from behind and she collapsed in the direction of the cliff from which you can see the city.”

“Maybe they felt guilty about having to kill her.” Gavin suggested. “What if they didn’t want to kill her?”

Hank looked up. “I found a footprint. Connor, would you mind analysing it?”

Connor nodded and got up before crouching back down in front of the footprint, scanning it. “It’s a special kind of hiking boot. It’s men’s footwear, so we might be looking for a male culprit.”

Gavin looked up. “At least that’s something.”

“We might be able to contact sport centres and find out who bought these kinds of shoes. They aren’t available to buy in normal shoe stores.” Connor explained. “Should I tell Captain Fowler, once we get back?”

Gavin nodded and grasped his chest before losing his balance and falling onto his bottom into the dirt. Hank turned to him, worried.

“Maybe you should wait in the car.” He suggested. “We’ll hurry up.”

“Only if you don’t tell Fowler about me fucking falling to the ground. If he hears that he’ll be concerned and keep me at the station. But I want to actually help to look for the culprit.” Gavin mumbled.

Hank nodded. “If you take things a bit more slowly and cautiously I’ll consider it.” 

Gavin glared at him. “My goddaughter could-”

“Calm down, Gavin.” Hank interrupted. “I was just teasing you. Just try to not overwork yourself.”

“Alright.” Gavin grumbled and tried to get up.

Connor was by his side in an instant, helping him up and supporting him. Gavin wasn’t usually one to accept this sort of obvious help but right now his chest was hurting badly and he just wanted to sit down, so he let himself be supported. Connor, of course, wasn’t fazed by Gavin’s weight. His physical strength greatly outnumbered the strength of a human male; if he wanted to he could easily carry Gavin to the car but that might not be met with appreciation by the detective. Thus he settled for supporting him.

“Let’s get you to the car.” Connor whispered gently. “We’ll do the rest of the work and you rest, alright? Otherwise, I’d be unable to concentrate because I would be worrying about you too much. I worry about you an awful lot lately.” The android mused. “But I guess that is what happens when you care for someone.”

Gavin felt a lump rise in his throat at those words but forced it back down.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin has a nightmare. Connor decides to stay on the couch with him to calm him down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyya, this is a rather fluffy chapter. But this fanfiction will get darker as time goes on. I have writer's block for anything that is not this fanfiction so I'm sorry if I'm not continuing other works right now. I'll get to that when my writer's block is gone.  
> Until then, I hope you like this and I hope you don't mind the lamenting about "Frankenstein".
> 
> As always, I don't own anything. Kudos and Comments are always appreciated if you want to leave some.  
> Enjoy ^^

“What’s up?“ Hank asked Connor for what felt like the hundredth time since they had gotten back home. 

Now that they were in the kitchen, Connor felt comfortable with answering. He spoke in a hushed whisper. “I’m worried about Gavin. He hasn’t said much since he collapsed onto the floor at the crime scene. The only thing I’ve seen him do apart from following us to the station and home was text his friend to see how Ashley was doing. Seeing that girl’s body really hit him.”

Hank nodded along and then replied in an equally quiet tone. “He’s worried about his goddaughter. She looks a lot like that girl we found and if the abductor has a type she could very well be in danger.”

“I don’t like seeing him like that. He’s just sitting on the couch, pettings Sumo’s head absentmindedly and looking at his lap.” Connor mumbled. “Should we talk to him about his fears?”

“Maybe distracting him might be a better idea. I wouldn’t want to send him into another episode of panic.” Hank mumbled. 

Connor nodded. “I’ll try.” With that, he moved to the couch and eyed Gavin. “Can I sit with you?”

Gavin looked at him from the corner of his eyes and nodded his head. Then he went back to petting Sumo, his eyes focused on his lap. 

“Do you want to do anything?” Connor inquired. “Should we watch some TV? Maybe a good movie is on.”

Gavin shrugged and kept staring at the dog.

“Alright.” Connor whispered and sat down. “But I’ll need your help choosing a movie.” He smiled gently. “I’m not a good judge at choosing movies.”

“I’m not five.” Gavin whispered. “Don’t patronize me. I don’t need that.” His voice was cold and sounded rather angry.

Hank approached them. “Listen, Gavin. I know you’re used to dealing with your problems on your own but that’s not how we do things in my damn house.” He said, his voice stern yet gentle. “Under my roof, we talk about problems and are honest to one another.” He leaned in to get Gavin’s attention. “And if Connor is being nice, you don’t use that tone on him.”

To his surprise, Gavin reacted. He slumped even further into himself, burying his hands in Sumo’s fur and then guiltily looked up at Hank. “Sorry.”

The man was taken aback, eyeing Gavin. “Don’t apologize to me. Say it to Connor.”

Gavin nodded quickly before turning his head so he could see Connor. “Sorry.”

The android looked at Hank and then back at Gavin, smiling. “It’s fine. This is a stressful situation for all of us. Now, how about we watch a Disney movie? Oh, what is ‘The Jungle Book’ about?” He looked at Hank. “Should we watch it?”

“Yes.” Hank said gently, sitting down on the other side of Gavin and reaching out to pet the dog on the man’s lap. “It’s just starting; how convenient.”

They spend the rest of the evening watching the movie. Gavin was still mainly focused on Sumo and petting him. Connor figured that it calmed him down. After all, petting Sumo calmed him down, too. The android was more invested in the movie but never stopped watching Gavin out of his peripheral vision for any signs of discomfort. Hank was rather relaxed, his arm lazily flung across the back of the couch. That he had put his arm around Gavin was not intended; he actually wanted to put his hand on Connor’s shoulder.

When the movie was eventually over, Connor and Hank were getting ready and moving toward Hank’s bedroom. Connor had long since adopted the habit of sleeping in Hank’s bed with him and the man didn’t seem to mind. Ever since his son had been born all those years ago, Hank had given up on sleeping alone. Cole had slept in his bed a lot but after the boy had passed away, Hank had never wanted to sleep in the side his son had slept on. But now this side was occupied by Connor since the android liked sharing a bed with him.

Connor smiled at Gavin. “Do you need anything before I go to sleep?”

“You sleep?” 

“I enter sleep mode. But I will, of course, be able to wake up should you need anything. So don’t hesitate to wake me.” The android promised.

“I’ll be alright.” Gavin shook his head, scooting down on the couch before pulling the blankets over his shoulders.

“If you say so.” Connor said gently and let Sumo back inside. “But if you need anything, please don’t hesitate to wake me. I don’t need sleep and I’d be more than happy to help you.”

Gavin scoffed. “You’re way too nice to me. Once I woke my mom up because I had thrown up and she told me where the washing powder was and what buttons to press on the washing machine.”

Connor cocked his head to the side and came closer to Gavin. “But I’m not your mother, Gavin. I’m someone that will be there for you when you need me. And I’m not ‘too nice’ to you. I’m as nice to you as you deserve it.” Then a small smirk appeared on the android’s lips. “But if you don’t want me to be nice, I suppose going back to your asshole ways would be a good way to go about it, though I doubt you will.”

Gavin watched as Connor moved to Hank’s bedroom, his naked feet hitting the ground audibly and his hands behind his back. The android turned his head, smiling at him more genuinely now. Gavin would have laughed at Connor’s pyjamas a long time ago, had he not felt a lump in his throat whenever the android was nice to him.

“Goodnight, Gavin. I’ll leave the door open just a crack as I did last night, yes?”

“Yes.” Gavin nodded. “Goodnight.”

Most of the night went by quietly and peacefully. The only one awake was Sumo who had decided that he didn’t want to sleep in the kitchen anymore and came into the living room. But once he had settled at the end of the couch, the quiet was back.

The quiet was disturbed in the early hours of the morning when Gavin shot up from the sofa with a quiet scream that he immediately muffled with his hand. He sat there, panting. The nightmare his brain had come up with, had left him shaking on the sofa. He quickly scanned the room, noting that Connor and Hank seemed to still be asleep, which was good. The last thing Gavin wanted was for Hank to see the tears that were streaming down his face. 

He tried to calm down on his own but once it didn’t work, he jumped up and began pacing the living room. Sumo’s ears perked up but he went back to sleep soon enough. Gavin slowly made his way into the bathroom, intending to splash some water on his face once he had entered it. But he stopped when he caught sight of Connor and Hank inside the bedroom.

And it would be a lie to say that Gavin didn’t feel envious at that moment. Hank seemed peacefully asleep and Connor was curled at his side, holding onto the man. Both of them seemed so happy and familiar with one another that Gavin felt his chest clench in envy.

Never in his life had he actually acknowledged the fact that he missed having a family that actually cared for him. But lately, these thoughts have been harder to ignore. Slowly, he moved closer to the door, stopping once he could peer inside. A part of him longed to join them, to just feel someone holding and protecting him. But a bigger part of him told him not to because it would be too embarrassing. Still, he stood in the door and watched them for a while.

That was until Connor stirred next to Hank and slowly looked up. Gavin startled and tried to leave but it was too late - the android had seen him.

“Gavin, are you alright?” He whispered before slowly getting up out of bed and moving toward the door but not without checking that Hank was still asleep. “Do you need anything? Are you in pain? You’re crying.”

“Go back to bed.” Gavin whispered. “I just had a nightmare and needed to move around a bit. It’s not that bad.”

“It’s bad enough that you need to cry.” Connor said softly and lead Gavin out into the living area before closing the door behind him. “Was it about what happened today?”

“Sort of.” Gavin shrugged, trying to look nonchalant but more tears rolled down his cheeks. “Look, I’m okay. I can deal with that. I’m used-”

“You’re used to it. Yes, you’re used to dealing with this on your own but you don’t need to anymore. I’ll stay up with you.” Connor promised and moved towards the couch.

“You really don’t have to.” Gavin said but followed the android, sitting down on the couch beside him.

“We can just talk if you’d like to.” Connor smiled. “About anything you want.”

“Anything?” Gavin asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, anything. We don’t have to talk about your past or the nightmares. We could talk about your favourite book or about space if that’s what you like.”

Gavin eyed him for a few seconds before leaning back. “Do you have a favourite book, Connor?”

“Not really. I’ve read a few books but not that many. I haven’t had the time. But you read a lot more as you said. What books do you like?” Connor asked, genuinely interested in Gavin’s answer.

“I guess my favourite book is ‘Frankenstein’. Tina once read it and recommended it to me because her sister had recommended it to her.” Gavin chuckled at that. “Complicated, I know.”

“I haven't read that before. But I know what it’s about.” He smiled. “Why is it your favourite?”

“I guess I relate to the creature that Victor Frankenstein created.” Gavin shrugged. “It sounds like something a 14-year-old in his emo phase would say but it’s true.”

“But you’re not a monster.” Connor interrupted.

“Neither is the creature, really.” Gavin shrugged. “I mean, he kind of is because he killed innocent people like Victor’s brother but in the larger scheme, he was never taught how to handle things peacefully. I kind of relate to it because Victor didn’t care about his creation and left him alone. The creature had to learn everything on his own, from speaking English to finding out which things he could eat.”

Connor’s face fell and he leaned in closer. “I’m sorry that you can relate to that. I can’t imagine how you must have felt. I mean, I never had to learn most things like cooking or doing chores because I have software for that.”

“Yeah.” Gavin nodded. “It’s not like I had to learn how to speak all alone but I had to figure out how to cook basic meals early on.”

“Do you want to tell me what else you like about the book?” The android asked, trying to change the subject.

“Sure.” The man said and smiled gently. “I like the way the story is told. It’s Walton writing to his sister and then he’s telling her what Victor tells him. And later on, Victor tells him what the monster tells him and the monster also tells him the backstory of the family whose shed he’s been hiding in. It’s kind of funny, actually.”

“I think it’s fair to say that Robert’s sister must have been pretty confused.” Connor chuckled. “I’m sure I’d be confused.”

“Yeah.” Gavin smiled. “I could lend you the book.”

“That’d be great. I could read it and actually add a lot more to the conversation.” Connor smiled and leaned back. “Is there anything else that you like?”

“There’s a lot of things that I like.” The man said a little sarcastically before yawning. “What do you like? I’m sure you watched a lot of movies with Hank.”

Connor nodded and lowered his voice as to let Gavin fall asleep if he wanted to. “We’ve watched a lot of movies. We watched ‘I Am Legend’ recently and I really liked it but then the dog died.” He stopped and chuckled. “I hope I didn’t spoil it for you.”

“No, I’ve seen that movie before.” Gavin mumbled before leaning against Connor a little. He felt the android tense at the contact but quickly relax again. And he was sure that Connor must be smiling at this point. To be fair, Gavin didn’t really care about whether or not Connor was going to tease him in the morning. Leaning against Connor and feeling his warmth was far too comforting for him to care.

“You can lean in more if you want to. I don’t mind. I like hugs.” Connor explained gently. “I mean the way you’re trying not to lean into me too much looks uncomfortable.”

Gavin looked at him out of the corner of his eyes and then nodded, scooting closer and cuddling up to Connor -even though he would never call it that. 

He heard the android chuckle gently before he felt a hand in his hair. “Isn’t that more comfortable? I hope it’ll help you sleep again. It’s still really early.”

“It will.” Gavin said, sounding as if he was already falling asleep. “Will you keep talking? I mean only if you don’t mind.”

“Of course, Gavin. You don’t care what I talk about, do you?” Gavin shook his head at that and Connor nodded. “Well then I’ll tell you about the time Hank and I went to the aquarium.”

And while Connor told him about the fishes and the day he had spent with Hank, Gavin drifted off into sleep. Connor kept talking until he was sure that the man in his arms was asleep before he closed his eyes, too. When he was sure that Gavin wasn’t having any more nightmares, he entered sleep mode again.

Hank found them like that in the morning. He was confused to wake up and find Connor gone. Thus he went into the living room and found Connor and Gavin leaning against one of the arms of the couch, sleeping soundly. Connor was holding Gavin and apparently Sumo had joined them as well since he was lying at their feet. Hank smiled at how nice and sweet Connor could be even to people that weren’t always that nice to him. Then he went into the kitchen to make breakfast.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Gavin's birthday. No one knew until someone comes to visit Gavin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof this is long. Sorry, for not continuing my other WIPs but I will once I get over my writer's block. (And as if I haven't got enough. WIPS already, I've started another one about de-aged RK900 if anyone's interested in that).
> 
> Anyways, enjoy this fluff before angst, hurt/comfort and bad things will come in the next chapters.

When Connor woke up he was still holding Gavin in his arms. He smiled as he saw that Sumo had come onto the couch with them. Gavin seemed to still be in a deep sleep, so Connor just leaned back and let the detective sleep.

Hank walked over to him, grinning a little. “You seem comfortable.”

“Gavin had a nightmare and we talked. Then we ended up like this.” Connor smiled and looked down at the man. “But he didn’t have any more nightmare, I think.”

“Your presence is really calming.” Hank chuckled. “You’re really too nice.”

“Too nice? I don’t think someone can be too nice, actually.” Connor said warmly. “You can be too lenient or indulgent towards people who are assholes but you can never be too nice or too forgiving.”

“That’s a nice sentiment. I don’t think I could be this forgiving to someone that has been an asshole to me.” Hank mused.

“Then I guess it’s goo that I’m me and not you.”

Hank shook his head and ruffled Connor’s hair. “You are such a smartass, do you know that?”

“Yeah, I know that.” Connor chuckled and then sighed.

His chuckling seemed to have woken Gavin as the man looked up and around the room for a few seconds, seeming confused. Then he heaved a sigh.

“Five more minutes.” Gavin complained, flopping back down onto Connor and closing his eyes, grasping at the android’s pyjamas. “Had a hard night and it’s cold in the house. I don’t want to get up.”

“I know.” Connor said gently. “But you need to get up. We have work to do.”

Gavin seemed confused by the voice and looked up. “What?” He whispered and then startled, sitting up quickly. “Sorry, I was still half asleep. Don’t let it get to you.” He grumbled, rubbing his chest.

Connor sat up. “Did you sit up too quickly?”

“Yeah.” Gavin sighed. “Is breakfast ready?”

“Yeah, being the good fucking citizen that I am, I made you some, too.” Hank explained and nodded his head in the direction of the kitchen. “It’s just toast and eggs but I don’t think you’ll complain.”

Gavin got up and shook his head. “No, that’s nice. Thanks.” He mumbled and shuffled to the kitchen.

Hank watched him and turned to Connor. “How much longer will he keep up this ‘bad-boy that doesn’t need anyone’ charade?” He murmured. “Getting a little annoying.”

“Give him time.” Connor said gently. “I hope he’ll open up to us. Maybe I can even befriend him.”

“Yeah, good luck with that, son.” Hank laughed gently. “Now I have to get into the kitchen before Gavin eats everything.”

“I’ll let Sumo outside.” Connor smiled and walked toward the door.

\---

The next few days were spent searching for men that had bought these specific hiking boots and there were more of them than they had expected. Thus they spend even more time, narrowing the people down, checking alibis and shoe sizes.

On Monday, they went back to the station as always and Connor couldn’t help but notice that Gavin seemed off again. Even if they had made a lot of progress during the last two days that they spend visiting sport stores. 

Gavin had talked to Connor about childhood hobbies and friends. Connor in return told him about Sumo and helping Hank teach the dog new tricks. They even spend the evening together on the couch until Gavin -who was still very much on edge about the case- had fallen asleep. Only then did Connor join Hank in his bed. Hank had told him over and over again that he was being a really sweet and kind person. But Connor thought that it was just natural for him; he was simply a nice person.

“Gavin.” Connor said gently once the lunch break had arrived. “Do you want to come and grab lunch with us?”

“With you?” Gavin teased. “You can’t eat.”

“With Hank and me.” Connor retorted teasingly. “For a detective, you are a little slow.”

“And for an android, you are incredibly human. What else is new?” Gavin crossed his arms and sighed. “I don’t feel like going out.”

“But why not?” Connor probed. “Are you alright?”

“Not today.” Gavin simply said.

Just as Connor was about to check what was so special about this day, someone called out Gavin’s name. Connor, Gavin and Hank that had been approaching them, looked up. It was Gavin’s goddaughter and her mother that walked after her at a quick pace.

“Ashley, the nice receptionist told us to not disturb anyone.” Abigail chided.

“Sorry, mommy.” Ashley replied sheepishly. “I’m just excited.”

Hank couldn’t help but grin at how Gavin’s bad boy image would be impossible to hold up now. It was amusing to him, to say the least.

“Are you here to see Detective Reed?” Chris asked, looking at her.

“Yes.” Ashley smiled. “I want to congratulate him. The nice lady at the door let us in. Daisy said we need to be quiet, though.”

“Yes but it’s nice of you to visit him. He’s over there.” The man smiled. “Congratulate him?”

“It’s his birthday.” Abigail clarified. “Now go on, Ashley. We need to go to the dentist later.”

Ashley nodded and skipped over to Gavin. “Happy birthday, uncle Gavin.”

Gavin smiled gently and leaned down to pick her up. “Why thank you. But wasn’t I supposed to have dinner with you guys tonight?”

“Yes but we were close by.” Ashley smiled and hugged him. “It’s so cool here.”

“Oh yes, it is.” Gavin smiled a little. “But what made you come here?”

“I wanted to give you a present!” The girl proclaimed and cuddled up to the man’s shoulder. “But Mommy said we should give it to you tonight.”

Connor watched them fondly, smiling at them. Even Hank was smiling at them a little. 

“That’s alright. I’m looking forward to coming over for dinner.” The man nodded. “I hope your mother makes something tasty.”

Abigail rolled her eyes and laughed. “You better be happy that we cook for you on your birthday. Don’t get cocky.”

Gavin looked down for a second before hugging Ashley close. “Ash, will you promise me to be careful? There’s a bad man and he takes little kids. I’ll find him very soon, I promise. But you need to watch out.” He whispered. “Just don’t walk around all alone, yes? Just stay with mommy until he’s gone.”

Abigail eyed him. “Don’t scare her.”

Gavin looked up at her, his eyes teary. “I’m worried for her. Just keep a close eye on her.”

“I will.” Abigail nodded. “I always do.”

“I’ll be careful.” Ashley said sweetly. “But you’ll catch him, right? You always catch the bad guys. That’s why you’re a hero.”

“Yes.” Gavin looked straight ahead. “I’ll catch him.” He sighed softly. “But you need to go to the dentist now.”

“I don’t want to.” Ashley whined, holding onto him.

“Yes, but it’s so your teeth can be healthy and pretty.” Gavin explained, holding her close for a second. “I’ll see you later today, yes?”

Ashley smiled and then went back to her mother. “I’ll draw you a pretty picture.”

“I’ll look forward to it.” Gavin waved a little.

“If I come by again will you show me around?”

“Yes, Ahs. But only once we’ve caught the bad guy, yes?” Gavin smiled.

“Alright, I’ll see you later, uncle Gavin!” She waved and took her mother’s hand.

“I’ll see you at 6 pm. If you want you can bring the two of them, too.” She motioned for Connor and Hank. “At least this year, you can bring friends.” She teased, smiling at him.

Gavin rolled his eyes and laughed. “Yeah, I’ll ask them. Now go to the dentist and watch Ashley.”

“See you.” Abigail waved and then walked back outside with her daughter.

Connor turned to Gavin. “She’s such a sweetheart.” His smile faded. “But I didn’t know that it was your birthday. I’m sorry; if I had known I would have congratulated you sooner but you didn’t tell us.”

“Yeah, it’s fine. It’s not your fault.” Gavin shrugged. “Don’t beat yourself up over it.”

Connor’s face fell even further. “But I would have liked to know. I could have gotten you a present or at least congratulated you.”

“It’s alright.” Gavin waved it off. “It’s my fault.”

“Well, if you say so.” Connor then smiled. “Happy birthday, Gavin.” He quickly dived in to hug the man. “I’m sorry I didn't say so sooner.”

Gavin was surprised and felt his face heat up at this display of affection in the middle of the bullpen. When he heard Chris chuckle he quickly reacted and patted Connor on the back. “It’s fine. Thanks, tin can.”

Connor let got and smirked a little. “No problem, Officer asshole.”

“Wow, thanks.” Gavin laughed. “Not like it’s my birthday.”

Hank rolled his eyes at them and laughed a little. “Not like you’re an asshole all the time, though.”

“Touché.” Gavin chuckled. “So do you want to join me for dinner tonight? I mean if you want to.”

“Yes, I’ll come.” Connor smiled. “And Hank will come, too.”

“Thanks for deciding that for me.” Hank chuckled. “But yeah, why not.”

“Yes, Abigail and her husband have a little restaurant. It’s a really nice place. That’s why she’s going to be cooking. She’s doing the cooking with another guy. She stopped when she had Ashley but picked it back up when Ashley went to kindergarten.” Gavin explained.

“We’ll meet at the restaurant, yes? We’ll have to get something beforehand.” Connor smiled. “But we’ll be there at 6 pm.”

\---

Gavin checked his watch again. It was almost half past 6 and Abigail kept asking him to come inside and have dinner. Eventually, he sighed. He shouldn’t have expected Connor and Hank to actually show up. They were probably having a nice evening, not being with Gavin of all people. It wasn’t as if he was not already used to not having friends over on his birthday. Not even when he was a child, did any of his friends come over; not like his mother would have allowed him much of a party, to begin with. 

Slowly, he made his way inside when he heard someone call out to him. He turned and saw Connor running towards him. Hank was following a little slower, probably counting on Connor to stop Gavin from leaving. Gavin couldn’t fight the smile that found its way to his face. But he would forever deny the few stray tears that ran down his cheeks at seeing Connor and Hank.

“Gavin, I’m sorry we’re so late!” Connor exclaimed. “We bought you a present and we got stuck in the supermarket because it was so crowded there.”

“You shouldn’t have bought me anything.” Gavin shook his head. “I already get to live with you guys.”

“But it’s your birthday.” Connor insisted, smiling at the man.

“Yes, but-”

“Just take it, kid.” Hank grumbled when he arrived as well. “Let’s go inside.”

And they did. The dinner was quiet but nonetheless present. Ashley was the one that was doing most of the talking, telling Gavin about school, her friends and her hobbies. He as listening intently while quietly eating in the background. 

When the dinner was over, Ashley got up and retrieved their gift for Gavin. She smiled at him when she held it out to him. “I made the card myself. But mommy bought the present.”

“Well, let me look at the card first.” Gavin smiled at her brightly.

Connor watched as he opened the card. The way Gavin interacted with his goddaughter was heartwarming to him. It was sad that he felt insecure about showing this much emotion around other people. But hopefully, Connor would be able to help him with that at least a little. What was sadder was that his mother was probably never this sweet and caring toward him.

“Is that me and you?” Gavin grinned happily. “Oh, yes it’s me! I’m wearing my uniform and a police hat. And that’s you with the blue dress, yes?”

“Yes.” Ashley smiled. “And we’re walking through the park to the playground.”

Gavin was still smiling. Connor couldn’t remember the last time when he had ever seen Gavin smile that much.

“Happy birthday, uncle Gavin.” Ashley hugged his waist and Gavin leaned down to hug her back. “it also says that on the card.”

“Yes, I saw that.” He leaned back and smiled. “Now, let’s see what your mother bought me, yes?”

“I helped pick it out.” Ashley smiled.

Gavin nodded and opened the present. It was a watch. Connor quickly scanned it. It wasn’t a really expensive one but also not too cheap. But he was confused as to why they would buy Gavin a watch of all things. Gavin seemed to understand, though. He started to grin immediately.

“Oh, Abby. Very funny.” He laughed. “So I don’t pick Ashley up too late, bring her back too late or come over too late when we two do something anymore.”

“Yes.” Abigail grinned. “Exactly.”

Her husband laughed. “Yes, she’s very proud of how fitting the gift was.”

“Yes, I am.” Abigail laughed.

Ashley smiled. “You like it?”

“I love it. Thanks.” He smiled at Ashley and then looked at the couple. “Thank you.”

Connor smiled gently. “We got you a little something, too.” He put a gift down in front of Gavin. Even if they had only bought it an hour ago, it was perfectly wrapped thanks to Connor.

Gavin opened it carefully and laughed a little. “A cat pullover?” He smiled. “Of course it’s a cat one.”

“You like cats.” Connor smiled. “And it’s really warm since you complained that our house is too cold. I made sure to buy a warm one.”

The man smiled gently. “Thanks, Connor. I really like it. And thank you, too, Hank.”

Hank smiled a little. “No problem, kid. Happy birthday.”

“Yes, happy birthday.” Connor smiled.

“Let’s sing a song for Gavin!” Ashley exclaimed.

Gavin blushed a little at that. “No, please don’t.”

“Well, now we’ll do it to embarrass you.” Abigail grinned.

Gavin shook his head and let his forehead drop towards his hand. He smiled fondly and redness spread over his cheeks as the other people at the table started singing. Ashley, Abigail and her husband George meant well. Connor and Hank were probably only singing along to embarrass him a little. But Gavin didn’t mind. His friends had actually shown up to his birthday celebration.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another child gets abducted and Gavin breaks down once he finds out who that child is.

Connor slowly approached Gavin, worried about how the man would react to the information the android was about to share with him. Since his birthday dinner two days ago, Gavin had been a lot more content. Spending time with his goddaughter and friends had assured him that they were indeed not in danger. But then a call came in and Fowler asked Connor to break the news to Gavin and Hank.

Hank was currently bickering with Gavin about something in the files. Connor took a deep breath and approached them, putting the file on his desk.

“Gavin, I don’t think anything can prepare you for what I have to tell you.” Connor whispered.

“What do you mean?” Gavin looked up. “What happened?”

“We have a new missing child.” Connor said slowly. “If you take a look at the file, you’ll see that it’s Ashley Donovan.”

Gavin felt as if his whole world was crumbling around him. The wind was knocked out of his lungs when he heard the name of the missing child. He distinctly heard Connor trying to talk to him. But he didn’t listen to him. He couldn’t stay there another second. He needed to get out of the station right at that moment. 

Connor took a step back when Gavin jumped up and speed-walked to the backdoor. The officer was out of sight in seconds and once he was in the backyard of the building he slammed the door shut. A coworker that was there having a smoke jumped up and was about to snap at him when he saw Gavin’s expression. Pure hurt and anger were evident on his face and the coworker quickly went back inside.

Once he was sure he was alone, Gavin allowed himself to break down. Tears were spilling from his eyes and he went to kick the bench to release his anger. It only ended in a hurt foot and him falling to the floor, sobbing openly. Ashley had been taken. His goddaughter had been taken. Someone had seen this bright and wonderful young girl and simply snatched her from her life, denying her any chance to live it to the fullest.

They had found the second missing child a week after they had found the first one; his corpse was lying near the same spot the first girl had been found in. Gavin had two weeks to find Ashley and if he couldn’t manage that – he couldn’t even think about what could happen otherwise, even if he knew what it was. 

He couldn’t even tell how long he was out there. The only thing that ripped him from his thoughts was the feeling of something being draped across his shoulders. When he looked up, he saw that Hank was putting his jacket over his shoulders.

“Don’t interpret anything into this. Just don’t want you to freeze out here. It's October, it’s pretty cold.” He mumbled and eyed the detective.

Gavin quickly wiped his eyes but new tears were falling from them. “T-thanks.” He stuttered out. When he fully turned his head, he saw Connor behind Hank.

“Gavin, we’ll find her.” Connor promised.

“You also said that we’d find the other two kids!” Gavin yelled, his voice breaking on the last word. “And now they’re both dead!”

“Yes, but we have gathered more information and-”

“And what?” Gavin’s voice was rising and Connor flinched away. “Fuck, she could be killed any minute and I couldn’t protect her!”

The android slowly approached Gavin. “Gavin, the FBI is helping, too. We have every resource we could ask for. We will find her. I promise.”

“You promise?” Gavin scoffed.

“Yes, Gavin.” Connor nodded. “I promise. You trust me, don’t you?”

“I guess, I can’t do anything except for trying to believe you.” Gavin sniffled, rubbing his face. “Fuck, what will we do?”

“Gavin, the FBI is currently checking everyone that bought these shoes.” Hank said quickly. “We will find her.”

“Let’s get you home, alright?” Connor asked gently, helping Gavin get back to the station. “We can’t do anything until the agents checked the people and got all the addresses. You might as well get home and rest.”

“Rest?” Gavin whispered and looked down at his shoes. “Can’t we do anything?”

“We aren’t going to be of any help.” Connor said. “And you need to sleep, so you can be fit tomorrow and able to do your very best.”

“Come on, kid.” Hank said softly and put a hand on Gavin’s back to lead him back inside. “Connor’s right. Right now, we can’t do anything. We can help when they found real suspects.”

Gavin nodded wearily, fresh tears starting to roll down his cheeks. He quickly shook his head as they reached the door, not wanting to go back in looking like this. Hank looked at him, a little confused about what the problem seemed to be. But Connor seemed to understand.

“Gavin, it’s alright. No one will judge you for crying. Most of them know that it was your goddaughter that was abducted. Everyone that helps with the case has seen it in the file. They’ll understand.” Connor explained gently. “It’s alright.”

Gavin looked at Connor for a second and then nodded, sobbing quietly. “B-but can we just be quick?”

“Yes of course.” The android insisted and then lead Gavin inside after Hank held open the door for them. 

When they entered, heads snapped toward them and several officers started to whisper amongst themselves. A few of them looked at him with pity but a few of them didn’t look that empathetic. Tina was the first to get up from her desk just as Gavin passed her.

“I’m so sorry.” She said softly. “Listen, I have a few more hours to go and I promise I will call you if we find out anything new.”

“Thanks.” Gavin sobbed quietly and then looked up at the woman. “Appreciate it.”

Tina nodded and rubbed his arm for a second. “I’ll better get back to work.”

Connor leaned forward, his mouth close to Gavin’s ear. “See? No one is judging you, Gavin.”

Gavin froze when he felt the android lean in this close. Connor was so gentle and nice to him even if Gavin had always been terrible to him. It only made him want to cry harder. He didn’t deserve this kindness. If not even his mother had been kind to him when he had been trying his hardest to be a good son, how could Connor be so nice to him when he had always been such a terrible person.

More tears ran down his cheeks as Connor guided him through the station and towards the door. There were gentle hands guiding him and Gavin sobbed quietly. Even Hank was trying to help in his own way.

Suddenly one of the new officers approached him; his name was Adam. “Hey, Reed. What are you doing, crying at work?”

“Screw off, Edwards.” Hank grumbled angrily.

“What? Since when is Anderson standing up for you. I’m surprised him and his android are even okay with being in the same room as you, you fucking asshole.” Adam snapped. “Damn, if you came to me crying, I wouldn’t help you after your shitty attitude towards me.”

“Lucky for you that we’re here and you don’t have to talk to him.” Connor interjected. “May we pass?”

“Don’t talk back to me, you fucking piece of plastic.” The man scoffed.

“Shut up!” Gavin snapped angrily, his voice breaking. “Leave him alone!”

“Wow, I didn’t know you could actually feel empathy towards anyone, let alone a fucking android!” Adam laughed.

“Edwards, get your head out of your fucking ass for a couple of fucking seconds and let us pass or I will make you!” Hank snapped at him.

“Why is he even crying? Because some little girl was kidnapped? Damn, Reed, grow up and be above that! This is your job and if you cry about everything like that maybe you should fucking quit! You’re a disgrace for this police force and not just because of you fucking yelling at everyone at the crime scenes.” The man almost shouted. “If an incompetent prick like you is looking for the girl, she’s as good as dead!”

When Gavin nearly fell to his knees at that statement, Connor had enough and stepped in front of Gavin. “Detective Edwards, I suggest you leave before this situation escalates.”

Adam grabbed Connor’s shoulder, trying to shove him out the way. When the android didn’t budge he readied himself to slap him. But before he could do anything, Connor grabbed his arm, turned him around and pressed him against a wall, holding one of the man’s arms on his back and pinning the other between him and the wall. Adam tried to get loose but Connor tightened his grip, pushing the man harder against the wall. The detective groaned in pain.

“You will let us pass now, Detective Edwards. And I would appreciate if you would refrain from trying to cause physical harm to anyone at this station. If you refuse to cooperate, I will have to report your behaviour to Captain Fowler.” Connor stated, his voice calm yet threatening due to how cold it sounded. “Understood?”

“Fuck, let go of me!”

Connor tightened his grip even further. “Do you understand, Detective?”

“Yes!” Adam cried out. “Now let me the fuck go!”

Connor nodded and leaned in for a second, his mouth close to the man’s ear. It was similar to how he had learned in before to comfort Gavin, yet his actions now were not intended to be comforting.

“See? Was that so hard? Now you get back to doing your job.” He leaned back. “And let me assure you, Detective Reed is by far a better officer than you are.”

Hank looked at Connor. “I think you should let him go now, son.”

Connor nodded and looked at Hank. “Maybe you can stay here and see to him not following us, while I get Gavin to the car.”

Hank nodded and let go of Gavin’s shoulder to get between Adam and Connor. “Now, Edwards. While the two of them leave, we’ll have a little talk about you trying to punch Connor.”

“I wasn’t!” Adam tried to defend himself and started to rub his arm when Connor let go.

“Yeah, you can’t bullshit me.” Hank crossed his arms. “We’ll talk.”

Connor quickly put his arm around Gavin’s shoulders and lead him outside. “Now let’s get you to the car, yes?”

Gavin looked up at Connor, sniffling. “Y-you did that for me?”

“And because he wanted to punch me. But mostly for you. He couldn’t really harm me that way, anyway.” Connor explained.

“It would have hurt, though.”

“But not badly.” Connor promised and then walked past the reception.

The receptionist Daisy quickly walked up to them. “Is he injured? Do you need me to call an ambulance, Connor?”

Connor smiled at her. She was one of the only androids that Connor saw on the daily. The other police androids -that now worked there as regular officers- were almost always gone for cases. But he and Daisy saw each other on a daily basis and had gotten to know each other a little over the past few months.

“No, he’s physically fine.” Connor assured. “The little girl that went missing today was his goddaughter.”

Daisy, ever empathetic, gasped in shock and quickly went in to talk to Gavin. “I’m sure you will find her soon. You’re a good Detective after all, aren’t you?”

“I guess.” Gavin whispered, averting his eyes.

“You are!” Daisy assured. “You’ll find her soon. And the other officers are helping. Don’t be afraid. Even the FBI is helping.”

“Thanks.” The man mumbled.

“Daisy, would you be so kind as to inform me when new information is found?” Connor asked gently. “Just send me a message, yes? Don’t call Lieutenant Anderson’s house. I wouldn’t want them to wake up.”

“Of course, Connor.” She smiled. “Do you two need anything else?”

“No, we’re heading home now. Thank you very much.”

“Always.” She said and slowly made her way back to her desk. “Have a good journey home.”

“You, too, once you’re off work.” Connor waved his hand once and then lead Gavin further outside.

\---

When Hank himself came to the car a few minutes later, he found Connor and Gavin both in the backseat with the detective crying and the android trying to comfort him.

He quickly got into the driver’s seat and looked back. “I’ll get you two home now, yes?”

Connor nodded quickly but didn’t say anything to Hank, too caught up with trying to calm Gavin down a little bit. He leaned in and rubbed Gavin’s arms. “Can you try to breathe evenly, please? Can you do that for me?”

Gavin looked up a little and nodded. It took him a little bit but eventually, he managed to calm his breathing and Connor nodded approvingly.

“We’ll be home soon.” Connor promised. “And then I want you to drink and eat a little bit, yes?”

“I’m not hungry.” Gavin mumbled.

“I think you actually might be hungry but you don’t have an appetite. You haven’t eaten anything since 12 am this morning.” The android explained, gently rubbing the man’s shoulder. “You’re worried about Ashley and I understand that. But not eating, drinking or sleeping and subsequently weakening your physical condition, is not going to help her, Gavin.”

Gavin heaved a sigh and rubbed his eyes. “I guess you are right. But she’s just a little girl.” He let his head drop into his hands. “She’s just a little girl and all alone with some crazed criminal that shoots kids after keeping them at his house for two weeks.”

“Humans are more resilient than you might think and they can endure dangerous conditions. Ashley will be alright. After all, she wants to see you and her family again.” 

“Oh God, how will I talk to Abigail the next time I see her?” Gavin exclaimed.

“I can help you if you want me to. I can come with you when you talk to her. We will probably have to talk to her but I was designed to talk to victims, too.” Connor said gently.

Gavin just nodded. “You’re being too nice to me.”

“I’m not. I’m being as nice to you as I want to be and as you deserve.” Connor explained and smiled. “Not everyone is after you, wants to neglect or hurt you.”

“It’s just hard to believe that sometimes.” Gavin whispered.

“That’s totally understandable.” Hank called out from the front. “But I know Connor and he’s telling the truth. We don’t have a reason to resent you or try to hurt you in any way right now, so why should we? I mean if you start being a fucking dick to Connor again, I will throw you out but right now, you’re alright.”

“I can look after myself.” Connor interjected as his hands found their way to Gavin’s hair and stroked it a little.

“Just because you can look after yourself, doesn’t mean you should have to.” Hank mumbled. “I’m your dad, right? I’ll look after you.”

Gavin sighed softly and closed his eyes, a few stray tears running down his cheeks. He had always wished for a father like that but his father was basically alienated from him by his mother and now he was dead. And his mother would have never tried to fill the role of a mother, let alone trying to fill the one of a father as well. 

But now Connor was there and Hank was there. Even if Hank wasn’t going to be as much of a father figure to him as he was to Connor, he was still protecting him and being there. And that was enough. Maybe he should try to be nicer to Connor. Maybe that would make him stay. And maybe he could allow Connor to care for him tonight. 

With that thought, he slowly leaned into Connor’s embrace. The android tensed but quickly relaxed. Hank was still driving. Gavin was still fighting back tears. Connor was still doing his best to comfort the detective. And right now he was succeeding, if only a little bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woowzers, this was long. I wanted to write about Connor being a sweet and caring friend/ brother but that would have made the chapter too long so I'll add that in the next chapter.  
> I hope you enjoyed it. As always Kudos and Comments are always appreciated if you enjoyed it.  
> See you soon ^^


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor is trying to take care of Gavin but the detective is not sure whether or not the android is genuine. Fighting ensues.

The clock on the kitchen wall kept ticking and Connor hurried around the room to whip up some food for Gavin and Hank. His dad was out with Sumo and Gavin was sitting on the couch. He hadn’t moved in half an hour. All Connor had seen him do was take out his wallet which was probably to look at the picture of Ashley and him.

Connor yet again turned around in the kitchen. The noodles he was making were cooking and the salad was done. He figured that he could check on Gavin real quick. Thus he approached the couch. 

“Gavin, are you doing alright?” Connor inquired gently, leaning forward to peer over Gavin’s shoulder. He was indeed looking at the picture of him and his goddaughter that he kept in his wallet. 

Gavin didn’t react. He was moving so little that Connor actually got worried for a second before he saw Gavin’s thumb stroking the picture a little. Still, he didn’t answer.

“I’m really worried about you, Gavin. Would you mind answering me real quick? Just a nod to see that you are doing alright would be appreciated.” Connor was practically begging but he didn’t care. “Gavin, please.”

Gavin nodded his head once and then heard Connor exhale in relief.

“I’ll finish up dinner now, alright?” He gave Gavin’s shoulder a gentle squeeze and went back into the kitchen to continue cooking.

Connor was sure he wasn’t too nice and caring to Gavin. Even if Hank had told him not to let Gavin get away with being a prick he didn’t feel like he was. Gavin may have snapped at him earlier in the backyard of the station but Connor didn’t mind; he had defended him against Adam after all. 

He was not being a doormat, he was sure. If he was a doormat, he would still be kind to Gavin if he was being rude, which he wasn’t. Gavin needed help and he was trying this best to be nice to Connor and the android was reciprocating this with kindness. Even if Gavin sometimes fell back to his old ways of snapping at people and making rude remarks, Connor could look past that. 

Gavin was trying his best to grow past his old ways and Connor had to acknowledge that even if he fell back to his old ways once in a while. A few snide remarks weren’t going to deter Connor from giving Gavin the chance to grow as a person and become a better version of himself.

When Hank finally got back home, they ate together. Gavin seemed apprehensive at first but a little nudge from Connor in the form of reminding him that the android specifically cooked for him and Hank changed his mind. He didn’t eat much but enough to not go hungry. Hank eventually stood up and brought the plates to the kitchen.

Connor leaned in, supporting his weight on his forearms. “It’s good that you ate a bit. I know you probably didn’t have much of an appetite but you did a good job regardless.”

“I’m not a little kid.” Gavin sneered. “I don’t need to be praised for eating my food.”

“Oh, I know that. But I’m still proud of you for taking care of yourself.” Connor smiled warmly. “And you taking care of yourself despite your bad situation proves that you are a responsible adult.”

“Whatever.” Gavin whispered. “Not like that’s gonna bring Ashley back.”

“No, but you taking care of yourself keeps your body capable of helping Ashley.” Connor explained. “The brain needs sustenance to function properly and so does the rest of your body.”

“Connor, you’re not my mum. Shut up.” Gavin buried his face in his hands.

“No, of course, I’m not. I’m your colleague and friend. I want what’s best-” 

Gavin interrupted him by slamming his hands on the table. “You’re lying to me, aren’t you? You’re not my friend; no one is my friend! I’m a piece of shit and you just help me to feel good about yourself! You feel sorry for me and you want to be a good person!”

Connor winced at the loud noise and shook his head. “That’s not true. I care about you because-”

“You feel bad that I got injured, trying to protect you!” Gavin yelled, getting up. “Listen, you don’t have to feel guilty, okay? I did that because I wanted to! That doesn’t mean that you have to make up for it now! So quit acting as if you’re my friend just to eventually abandon me like everyone does!”

The android got up, too. “Gavin, listen to me very carefully now.” He began but Gavin didn’t listen; he just kept shouting.

“I don’t need your help!” He yelled as tears started leaking from his eyes. “No one ever cared about me, so why should you be any different? Not even my own fucking mother gave two shits about me, so why should you? All I ever did was be terrible to you! I don’t deserve kindness!”

Connor carefully approached Gavin, raising a hand to signal to Hank that the situation was under control. “Gavin, your mother didn’t treat you right but that doesn’t mean that you don’t deserve kindness.” With that, he reached out to Gavin but the man grabbed his arm.

He pulled Connor closer to his body by the arm. “You know what you should fucking do? You should hit me or something! I deserve that after all I’ve done to you!” Gavin sobbed.

Hank was about to step in but Connor stopped him, turning his head a little. “I’ll deal with that.” He whispered and turned back to Gavin. “Gavin, I will not hurt you.”

“You should!” Gavin wailed. “I don’t deserve your love and kindness.”

“You do.” Connor insisted. “Look at me, Gavin.” 

The man shook his head and turned his face. Connor reached up with his other hand and turned Gavin’s face. The man gasped in shock as he saw Connor’s LED spinning red.

“I’ve hurt you, haven’t I?” He sobbed. 

“No, you can’t hurt me that easily.” Connor whispered. “I’m very resilient.” He promised. “Gavin, listen to me now. Your mother was not a good person. She was abusive and neglectful-”

“She never hit me.” Gavin insisted.

“Child neglect is still fucking abusive.” Hank commented from the kitchen. “Kids need their parents’ help and care. Not caring for your child and leaving it to his own devices is abusive.”

“Hank is right. But the fact that she did that, had nothing to do with you as a person. You’re not a bad person. You deserved love and kindness and I’m sorry that you didn’t get that as a child. Now you’re so sure that you need to fight for your own that you’re scared of letting others in.” Connor’s voice was unbearably soft. “But I can promise you that if you let me in, I will never abandon you or leave you to fight on your own. I’m your friend, Gavin.”

Gavin looked at Connor for a long time. His tears were silent but plenty. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Maybe Hank was right about his mother. But did Connor have to analyse his behaviour like that? He was feeling so vulnerable. It was as if Connor had peered into his deepest darkest thoughts and fears just to lay them out for everyone to see. 

But he was so gentle and caring. No matter how Gavin fought against his care and no matter how much he yelled, Connor was still kind to him. No one had ever shown him this much kindness. It was overwhelming, to say the least.

Connor froze when Gavin started to sob openly and fell against the android’s chest. He quickly wrapped his arms around the man, supporting him. “You’re alright, Gavin. We’re here and we’re not leaving you alone.”

“Connor’s right, kid.” Hank approached them, now that the situation was defused and Gavin was calmer. “We’re a team, aren’t we?”

He reached out to rub Gavin’s shoulder a little and the man winced. Connor sighed sadly and began to gently rock back and forth.

“How about you sleep with us tonight? I don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone.” He explained and then slowly let go of Gavin to guide him to the bedroom. “Hank is just going to lock the doors, let Sumo out and turn the lights off. Then he’ll come, too.”

Gavin just nodded. He was feeling terribly embarrassed but he was also very grateful that Connor was being so gentle and kind. So he let the android care for him; deep down he felt that he deserved at least a little bit of care.

“That’s good.” Connor praised quietly, leading Gavin to the bed and helping him sit down. “Do you need help taking off your clothes?”

“No, I’m okay.” Gavin croaked out as he slowly took off his pants. When he saw the android turn to leave to let him have some privacy, he felt a pang of fear in his chest. “Stay.”

Connor turned. “If it doesn’t make you uncomfortable.” He said gently. “Do you mind if I quickly change into my pyjamas?”

Gavin shook his head and Connor quietly got dressed for bed. It was honestly a little endearing that Connor wore pyjama sets instead of just sleeping in sweatpants or boxers like Gavin did. Gavin had to chuckle a bit.

“What’s so funny?” Connor turned around, fully dressed. There was a gentle smile on his lips as he sat down next to Gavin.

“I just think it’s kind of endearing that you wear matching pyjama sets.” Gavin shrugged. Connor laughed at that.

“I’m endearing? That’s new.”

“As if that’s new.” Gavin snorted. “Don’t play humble now. I’m sure people call you cute like fifty times a day. Just yesterday another officer thanked you for bringing her a coffee and called you a ‘cutie’.”

“I guess you’re right.” Connor laughed. “But no one ever called me wearing pyjama sets cute.”

“Because you don’t fucking walk around Detroit in pyjamas.” Gavin joked.

“I guess you’re right again.” Connor smiled and then put a hand on Gavin’s shoulder. “You cried pretty hard and your breathing was very irregular. Did that make your chest hurt? May I check the wound?”

Gavin nodded quietly and lifted his shirt. “It doesn’t hurt badly. It stopped after I managed to calm down.”

Connor nodded and leaned in, tracing his fingers along the scar. It was still stitched up but the stitches were getting removed soon. Gavin froze under the android’s fingers. Connor looked up.

“Did I hurt you?”

“No, that’s not it.” Gavin put his shirt back down and flushed deep red. “It’s just that- I don’t know how to say that. Before you started being nice to me the most gentle touches I ever got was a doctor treating wounds I got during work.”

Connor made a pitying noise and his face immediately dropped. He looked so sad and Gavin couldn’t believe that he was sad because of his past. “I’m sorry to hear that, Gavin. Would it make you uncomfortable if I just put a hand on your arm or shoulder during sleep?”

“I guess not. Why would you do that?” Gavin asked.

“Just to calm you down. And to calm myself down, too.” He explained. “Should we lie down?”

Gavin nodded and slowly crawled under the covers. “Should I sleep on the edge so you can sleep next to Hank.”

“No, sleep between us. That way you’re safe and warm.” Connor offered a small smile and lied down next to Gavin. 

The man lied down as well and looked at the android. “You’re being too kind. I still feel like I don’t deserve it.”

“But that’s up to me to decide. I decide who is worth my love and compassion.” With that, Connor put a hand on Gavin’s stomach. “And you are worth it.”

Gavin turned his face and Connor could see tears running down his cheeks. “I think that’s the first time anyone has ever told me that I was worth something. The only one that had ever as much as told me that I did good was Fowler and that’s only because I’m a good cop.”

“You are.” Connor said gently and then scooted closer, hugging Gavin. “You’re my friend, Gavin. You are worth all of my compassion.”

“Thank you, Connor.” Gavin kept staring at the ceiling. “I’m glad that you’re here.”

That’s when Hank walked in. He looked at the scene and chuckled. “At least with Connor this close to you, I still have space in the bed with you guys.” He quickly got dressed for bed and scooted under the covers. “Alright, kid. Tomorrow we’ll work towards finding Ashley. Maybe we won’t find her right away but we’re close to.”

“I hope you’re right.” Gavin mumbled and looked at Hank out of the corner of his eyes.

Connor sighed sadly, his breath tickling Gavin’s shoulder, and rested his nose against the man’s neck. “Hank is right.”

“Yeah, not to sound too full of myself, but I am right.” The man chuckled. “No, really, Gavin. We’ll find her soon.”

“Alright.” Gavin breathed and slowly closed his eyes. “Good night.”

Connor smiled gently and turned off the lights, closing his eyes. “Sleep well.”

“You, too, son.” Hank said gently and then added with a laugh. “You too, Gavin.”

Gavin couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And again it was a little too long not to split off the next morning into the next chapter. But what can I say, sometimes I just write dialogue and can't keep it short because of how natural it comes. ^^°  
> Anyways, I don't know if I should keep Connor and Gavin as friends or maybe let them get together. If anyone has any opinion on it, feel free to tell me.  
> Kudos and Comments are appreciated, too.  
> Hope you enjoyed ^^


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A woman who claims to be a witness comes to the station to be interrogated about her sightings. She and Gavin are too familiar with one another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back at it again with the angst. 
> 
>  
> 
> **This chapter contains mentions of child neglect, emotional and verbal abuse of a child. It also contains Gavin being verbally abused as an adult. Just as a warning.**

Connor was the first one to wake up as usual. He blinked his eyes open and turned his head to see if his bedmates were still asleep. They were. Gavin had turned in his sleep and had curled up tightly. Hank was still on his back, arms outstretched. It was endearing to see his friend and his father sleeping like this, peaceful and calm.

Sadly, he had to wake them up. He pushed himself up on his elbow and shook Gavin a bit to which the man grumbled in his sleep. Connor tried again and finally, Gavin opened one of his eyes.

“What?” He mumbled sleepily.

“We need to get up.” Connor insisted. “We need to be at the station in about two hours.”

Gavin pushed himself up onto his elbows. “Alright, I’ll be in the bathroom.” With that, he crawled out of bed and then turned back to Connor. “Just don’t tell anyone about this and about me crying and shit.”

“Of course not.” Connor gave him a small smiled and then went to wake Hank up.

\---

At work, the day passed by with nothing much happening. The home addresses and information about the people that had bought the shoes were still being sorted through to find suspects among the people they found.

Gavin was sitting at his desk, hurriedly reading through the files. “Another person that doesn’t fit the shoe size.”

Connor looked up at him from his desk. “I found a suspect.”

“Good for you.” Gavin grumbled, looking at the next file. “And this one bought them years ago which doesn’t match the clearly not worn-out sole of the damn shoeprint.” He groaned in frustration and let his face drop into his hands. “How many fucking people bought these damn hiking shoes?”

“Maybe they’re just good hiking shoes.” Hank jokes, shrugging his shoulders. “I wouldn’t know. I don’t go hiking.”

“Who even likes to go hiking?” Gavin shook his head.

“Apparently all these people in the files.” Hank looked over at him.

Gavin dropped his head onto the table. “This’ll take days if we don’t find a way to narrow it down.”

Connor looked at Gavin and quickly got up to walk over to him. Once there, he rubbed the man’s back a little. “Hey, it’s alright. We’ll get through these faster than you think.”

“I highly doubt that.” Gavin mumbled. 

“You know better than to doubt me.” Connor chuckled. “I calculated how long it’ll approximately take us and it won’t be days.”

Gavin looked up, rolling his eyes affectionately. “Yes, I shouldn’t doubt you, tin can.”

The android nodded, giving his shoulder a squeeze. “That’s the spirit.” Then he leaned down so he could whisper to Gavin. “If it gets too much for you, you can always take a break. This case affects you personally. No one is going to judge you.”

“You don’t have to be so patronizing.” Gavin said but his words held no spite; he sounded genuinely tired and exhausted.

“I care for you.” Connor promised. “I told you that time and time again. No matter what happens, we’re friends.”

“Thank you.” Gavin whispered and petted Connor’s hand that was on his shoulder. “Now we should get back to work.”

That’s when Tina approached them. “Hey, I’m really sorry to disturb your little bonding moment but I got good news. We’ve found a suspect. A Mrs McCoy claims to have seen a suspicious looking man enter the forest in his car with a little boy in the backseat the night before Julien Byrne was found dead.”

“Well, bring her to the interrogation room.” Gavin instructed. “We’ll have a talk with her in a few minutes.”

“Alright, see you later.” With that, Tina left and quickly walked to the interrogation rooms.

“McCoy?” Connor muttered, taking the file that Tina had left behind. “Marianne McCoy, born on the 3rd of March 1979 in Detroit, Michigan.” He looked up and saw that Gavin sat frozen in his seat. “What’s wrong?”

“That’s- she’s my-” He stopped talking.

“Your?” Connor whispered, looking back at the file. “Her son Gavin Reed was born on the 7th of October 2002 in the Detroit Receiving Hospital to her and his father Jacob Reed who she divorced in 2011. She took back on her maiden name McCoy and gained full custody of her son.”

“Y-yes I know all of that, Connor. I’ve experienced it first hand.” Gavin interrupted. “Can you stop reading it out?”

“I’m sorry.” Connor whispered. “I should have not read it all out to you. Do you think you can talk to her?”

“Yes, of course. It’s for the case. If it brings us closer to finding Ashley, I will.” With that, he stood up. “I’m not a little kid anymore; I can question her, if I need to.”

He wanted to leave but Connor grabbed his arm while Hank walked over to them. “Gavin, you don’t have to do this.”

“Yes, I do.” Gavin freed himself from Connor’s grasp. “Look, it’s for Ashley’s wellbeing. If this makes me uncomfortable, is not fucking important right now.” 

“Yes, it is.” Hank chimed in. “Your wellbeing is just as fucking important.”

Gavin just shook his head and left for the interrogation rooms. Connor looked at Hank for a second before hurrying after him with Hank following suit. When they made it to the room next to the interrogation room from which one could watch the other room, they stopped.

Gavin slowly entered and upon seeing his mother, he couldn’t help but gasp softly. Connor was at his side in an instant, looking at the woman in front of them. She was a thin woman with dark hair, much like Gavin’s. Only hers seemed dyed, with roots of grey shining through. She was wearing her hair in a tight bun, matching her rather classy attire. Connor recalled reading that she worked as a manager in a hotel that belonged to a hotel chain.

“Gavin, you don’t have to talk to her.” Hank said sternly. “I’m fucking serious now.”

“Yeah, I know.” Gavin sighed. “But we need to hurry this along for Ashley.” He quickly went for the door but Connor stopped him.

“But if anything happens, I will come in and intervene.” The android stated. “Understand? If you need to leave at any time, tap your finger on the desk three times and I will take over for you.”

“I’ll be fine, but thanks.” Gavin then left the room.

He took a deep breath outside the interrogation room and then walked in. Marianne looked up immediately and her eyes narrowed once she saw who had come inside.

“Oh, great. I guess I’ll get nowhere today if you try to interrogate me.” She sneered. “Had I know that you work here, I’d have gone somewhere else to report my sighting. Well, you brat, what do you want to fucking know?”

Gavin walked towards the desk and sat down. “I’m Detective Reed and you will address me as such.” He stated.

“Detective? Still haven’t managed to become a Lieutenant?” She shook her head. “You always were a failure.”

“I’m not the topic of discussion here.” Gavin said firmly, though a lump was already forming in his throat and his heart was beating faster than ever. “What exactly did you see the night you claim you saw a man and a little boy enter the forest?”

“What a stupid question. I saw a man and a little boy enter the forest.” She shrugged.

“Yes, but can you describe the car or the man in detail?” Gavin urged. “That is really important in order to find the little girl that went missing yesterday.”

“Ah, isn’t that your goddaughter? I heard that from a fucking friend, Gavin! You didn’t even tell me that you were a godfather! You didn’t tell me about you getting a job here, either! You didn’t even call me on your birthday!” She snapped. “I’m your mother!”

“You were absent most of my life. What reason would I have-”

“The reason is that I am your fucking mother!” Marianne shouted.

“You were never a mother!” Gavin retorted, his voice rising, eyes filling with tears. 

“How dare you?” Marianne got up, towering over him. “I gave you a home and food! I raised you and provided for you and this is how you repay me?”

Gavin winced at that and shrunk back in his seat a little. He wanted to be strong and professional. He wanted to just question her and get it over with. Now she was yelling at him and it was like he was a little boy again, cowering from his mother as she yelled at him and emotionally tore him apart.

He tried to blink the tears away and his mother leaned closer. “You’re such a weak failure! Look at you! You wonder why I never loved you! Who could love you? You hold it against me that I never loved you but you brought that upon yourself!”

“Mommy, I’m sorry.” Gavin sniffled, turned his head away.

“You’re such a terrible failure!” She walked around the table and grabbed him by his shirt, pulling him up out of his seat. “I should have fucking aborted you but I had hoped you wouldn’t turn out to be such a disgusting failure! It’ll be a miracle if Ashley doesn’t die because of your gross incompetence!”

Gavin was now full on sobbing. He had never wanted to see his mother again and now she was here, yelling at him, grabbing at him. It was like he was a little boy again. Then his mother raised her hand, fully intending to smack him but the impact never came.

When Gavin opened his eyes, he saw Hank holding back Marianne’s arm, pulling her away from Gavin. Connor was next to Gavin in an instant, embracing and shushing him.

“I’m sorry.” Gavin sobbed. “I’m such a fucking failure. I tried to- to interrogate her but I couldn’t.”

“Did you even know anything that might help us?” Hank asked the woman sternly.

“Not really. I just found out that my fucking failure of a son was here and since he won’t talk to me or tell me his address, I came here.” She spat. “What are you going to do about it? I’m not a suspect.”

“No, but you assaulted an officer, made a false report and hindered an ongoing criminal investigation. These are criminal offences. So you will have to stay here.” Hank said angrily. “Now come along.” With at, he escorted her out of the room.

Connor was still trying to comfort Gavin, rubbing his back. “It’s alright. She’s not right. You’re not a failure and there are people that love you, Gavin.”

“No, she is right!” He wailed, clinging to Connor. “I was a t-terrible child, a fucking failure.”

“No, I’m sure you weren’t. And you are still not a failure.” Connor whispered. “Remember all the people you helped over the past months alone? You saved a boy that would have otherwise been murdered by his neighbour. You saved a young woman that would have otherwise been robbed and then terrible injured. You solved a hostage situation during a bank robbing. Granted you did that one with my help but on the other hand, I couldn’t have done it without your help.”

Gavin had gone still in Connor’s arms and was now looking up at him. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I shouldn’t have cried like-”

“Don’t apologize for that.” Connor said gently. “You were in a terrible situation, being yelled at by a mother that neglected and verbally abused you as a child. Your reaction was totally understandable.”

“Thank you, Connor.” Gavin slowly let go and straightened up. “I’ll just- we should get back to work.”

“Do you need a break?”

“No, I’ll be alright.” Gavin promised. Then he saw Connor’s sad and worried expression. He couldn’t help a gentle laugh from passing his lips. “Don’t look at me with your damn puppy eyes. I’m alright. Stop trying to make me take a break.”

Connor chuckled a bit and looked at the clock. “How about we just go to the break-room to get you your lunch and a coffee, at least?”

“You do know that you don’t have to mother everyone to death, right, tin-can?” Gavin joked.

Connor looked at him for a second and then laughed. “Whatever you say, meat-bag.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor is worried about Gavin and the man closes himself off. Hank promises to have a talk with him.

The clock on the wall kept ticking away and ever so often, Connor would glance over at Gavin. He was worried. After what had happened with Marianne, he wanted to make sure that Gavin was mentally alright. He knew that Hank was a little agitated with him constantly losing his train of thought and looking to Gavin but he couldn’t help it.

“Connor, if you’re so worried about Gavin why don’t you just go and talk to him?” Hank asked, looking up.

“I tried but he kept telling me that he appreciated my concern but could assure me that he was fine.” Connor sighed a little.

Hank eyed the android. Connor looked really concerned and downright upset. Having become like a father to Connor, Hank didn’t want to see him this upset. Connor sure was an empathetic person and worried about others a lot. Hank thought it was a good character trait to have but it worried him how easily the android could emerge himself in trying to fix other people’s problems. With a sigh, he stood up.

“Alright, son, listen here. I’ll talk to him. You just stay here and look through the files. I’m sure I’ll get him to tell me if he’s alright or not.” Hank smiled comfortingly.

“Just don’t pressure him.” Connor whispered and sat down at the table.

Hank nodded and slowly made his way over to Gavin. When he got there he stopped next to the table and supported his weight on one of his hands that he placed on the surface. Gavin looked up.

“What’s up?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Look, I’ll keep this short and simple. Connor is worried about you and you just sending him away, claiming to be fine, is not fixing anything. He’s worried about your mental state and to be perfectly honest I’m, too. All you do is work.” He paused, seeing how Gavin’s face contorted into a frown. 

“Well, what the hell am I supposed to do? Let Ashley fucking die?” The man asked, obviously irritated.

“I know this case is important and I want to find the kid as much as you want to, but there are other people working on it, too. You don’t have to do all the damn work on your own. If you need a break, you can take a break.” Hank explained sternly. “Connor is trying to make sure that you don’t fucking overwork yourself, so stop pushing him away. Push me away as much as you want to, but Connor is really empathetic and worries a lot; don’t do that to him.”

Gavin looked at Hank for a second before bringing a hand to his face and placing it over his eyes, pressing down. “It’s just hard, okay? Fuck, you want me to be honest with you?”

“Yes, definitely.”

“Here goes fucking nothing.” Gavin looked back up at Hank. “I had to do everything on my fucking own for all my life. I had to cook for myself, get everywhere on my own and take care of myself when I was scared or hurt. Once I broke a bone and had to go to the hospital by fucking bus. I’m used to doing everything on my own and I’ve gotten damn good at it.”

“You don’t have to do everything on your own anymore.” Hank leaned down. “Listen, we’re a team, aren’t we? We all just want to find Ashley and the guy behind all this. We all want to help you.”

“What if we don’t find her?” Gavin’s voice had gone quieter and it sounded close to breaking.

“Don’t even fucking think about that, Gavin. We will find her.” Hank said softly. “Look, kid. Would I have any reason to lie to you? You know for a damn fact that I don’t want to coddle you and sugar-coat anything for you. When I tell you that we will find her, you should know that I mean it.”

There were a few tears that escaped Gavin’s eyes and he pressed his lips into a thin line but he answered in a very genuine tone. “Thank you, Hank. Really, for everything you two have done in the last weeks. I don’t even want to think about how fucking lonely and miserable I would be if you hadn’t-”

“Don’t thank us. It’s nothing, really.” Hank promised. “And just so you know your mother will face charges for assaulting you and hindering a police investigation.”

Gavin looked up at him. “You-”

“I not only took care of the legal things, but I also had a talk with her. She won’t bother you again and if she does, I’ll deal with that.” Hank then put a warm, comforting hand on Gavin’s shoulder and the detective finally broke into tears.

“H-hank, I-”

“Alright, let’s get you to the backyard, kid.” He helped Gavin up and lead him outside. On the way, he motioned for Connor to stay at his desk.

Once outside, he turned to Gavin. The man was still crying, hiding his face behind his hand, clearly embarrassed by how easily it was to get him to cry lately.

“Easy, Gavin. Take deep breaths now, yes?” Hank implored.

Gavin nodded and tried to do so but his sobs got in the way. “The only person that ever stood up for me w-was my dad and then he c-couldn’t see me anymore.” He sobbed even harder. “And now he’s fucking dead and I can’t ever see him again. I never got t-to thank him for that.”

“I’m sure he knows how thankful you are. People show their gratitude in other ways than just talking about it.” 

“W-when I was little, he’d always h-hug me when I was scared of something like the thunder or just situations in general. I felt so safe with him and when he died, I just- I had no one left that cared about me.”

Hank looked at Gavin for a second and then pulled him into a tight bear-hug, holding him with one arm and protectively shielding the back of his head with the other hand. Gavin sagged against Hank and sobbed into his shoulder.

“Now you have someone that cares for you again.” He promised. “Fuck, I’m shit with emotions but long ago I made a promise to someone that I would always help those that need it.”

“Y-your son?” Gavin choked out.

“We were walking down the street in the rain one day and we saw an elderly lady that seemed lost. Cole wanted to help her and I obviously went along with it. She needed to call her daughter. So we took her to my house, let her call her daughter and helped her dry off a bit.” Hank explained, rubbing Gavin’s back. He felt tears come to his own eyes. “A complete stranger; that was all she was. But he didn’t care. He wanted to help. And I promised to always help people that need it; not just as a cop.”

“A-and you think I deserve that?”

“Yes, of course.” Hank nodded. “You know Cole always wanted to be a policeman like his old man. I think he’d have been a good one.”

“I’m sure.” Gavin sniffled. “H-he sounds like a nice kid.”

“He was. He was my pride and joy.” Hank said quietly, tears leaking from his own eyes.

“Does Connor remind you of him?”

“Yes, terribly so. But that’s not his fault. I just try to not let it negatively affect the way I deal with him -at least not anymore. But he’s forgiven me.”

Gavin looked up at that. “Do you think he has forgiven me?”

“He has.” That’s when Hank let go of Gavin to look at him. “Listen, kid. Maybe it’ll take time for us to completely get used to each other’s presence but you are always welcome at my home.”

A sob escaped from Gavin’s mouth. “Thank you.”

“I may not be able to replace the safety your father made you feel but I will try my damn best to not let anything happen to you, or Connor for that matter.” 

“You really don’t have to.” Gavin rubbed his eyes.

“But I’ll do it. You can’t tell me what to fucking do.” Hank joked and shook his head. “And don’t rub your eyes that hard. They’ll get irritated. I keep telling Connor, too.”

“Sorry.” Gavin whispered and wiped them more gently. “Better?”

“Yeah.” Hank chuckled. “Sometimes I feel like everyone’s fucking dad.”

“Isn’t that good?” Gavin laughed a bit. “That means people trust you.”

“Or it means they’re all incompetent and I need to be there to guide them so they don’t fuck everything up.” The man grinned a little.

“Damn, calling me incompetent? Now you sound more like my mom.” Gavin laughed dryly.

Hank smacked Gavin’s arm comfortingly. “Don’t listen to her, kid. Seriously.”

Gavin smiled a little, looking down so Hank wouldn’t see. “Maybe we should go inside. We got a bit more work to do before we can go home and get some food and rest.”

“Yeah, just maybe we shouldn’t tell anyone about how we cried here.” Hank muttered.

“I was gonna use that you blackmail you actually.” Gavin joked.

“I will blackmail you right back.” Hank retorted and opened the door for them. “No but seriously.”

“Yeah, let’s just keep that between us.” Gavin walked inside.

“And will you fucking please tell Connor how you are doing before he worries himself sick?” Hank closed the door behind them.

Gavin just nodded along. “I will.”

When hey made it to their desk, Connor was already walking over to them. “Are you two alright? What happened?”

“We talked. It got a bit serious but we’re fine, really, Con.” Hank assured.

“You, too?” He looked at Gavin.

“Yes. Don’t worry, if I’m not okay I’ll tell you.” The detective said quickly.

“Alright, I guess I’ll have to trust the two of you on that one.” Connor then smiled. “Now I have good news. I narrowed down the suspects to three men that we need to check out. They have no alibi, the right shoe size and they fit the profile.” He explained.

“What are we waiting for then?” Gavin asked and looked around. “We got to get there immediately. Get everyone geared up and let’s go.”

Connor nodded and walked past Gavin, gently rubbing his arm in the process. “Let’s go get Ashley home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a bit short but the plot thickens.  
> I hope you enjoyed it. Leave a Kudos or Comment if you did and want to. See you soon ^^


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hank, Gavin and Connor go to find the culprit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **It was just brought to my attention that I made the mistake if saying that Gavin already had two cats in the first chapter. And then I said he didn't later in.  
>  I'm sorry if that was the cause of any confusion. Just to be clear he doesn't have cats, yet.   
> I wanted to give them to him from the beginning but changed my mind and must have overlooked that part while editing.   
> Sorry for that. It's fixed now. Thanks for letting me know. ^^ **

It didn’t take long for them to get on their way to the first man’s house. But it turned out that he was not who they were looking for which prompted the police to get to the second man’s house. Gavin was getting agitated in the passenger seat. Hank had insisted on driving for the sole reason that Gavin was far too angry and anxious to drive even remotely safe.

“Gavin, calm down. You need to remain calm and professional at the man’s house.” Connor said softly.

“Are you saying I’m not fucking professional?” The man in the passenger seat grumbled. “I’m fucking professionalism personified.”

“Press ‘X’ to doubt.” Hank muttered under his breath.

“Oh, come on!” Gavin rolled his eyes but didn’t seem to mad. “I haven’t heard anyone say that for at least ten years.”

“All Connor is saying that you should try to keep calm.” Hank looked at the street.

When they arrived at the man’s house, everyone quickly made their way to the door. Most of the officers waited in the car to be called if Hank, Connor and Gavin needed backup.

Gavin knocked on the door very loudly. “Detroit Police Department, open the door!”

The man did so and eyed them. “What do you want?”

“Sir, we have reason to believe that you are in connection with the disappearances of three children and the deaths of two of them. If you could wait on the porch while we search your house.” Connor explained calmly.

“You can’t get into my house without a fucking warrant.” The man sneered.

Hank sighed. “Listen, it’s good that you watched your damn police shows on TV but we have the right to search your house if we have reason to believe that people of the general public may be in danger.” 

The man eyed them for a second and then ran off to his backdoor. Hank swore and looked at the other two men.

“I’ll get him!” Hank proclaimed and charged after him.

Connor looked at Gavin. “Let’s do quick work looking around.”

They first moved to the living room and quickly found evidence to support their claims. Connor held up a little bracelet.

“That’s what Hannah was wearing the day she disappeared. He has something do to with it.” Connor deducted.

Gavin nodded. “You look around downstairs and in the basement. I’ll take the upstairs.” 

He didn’t wait for Connor’s reply and simply went upstairs, calling out his goddaughters name. She was not in the bathroom, nor was she in the master bedroom but when he tried the handle for the other bedroom, he heard someone make noise from inside. The door was locked but he was able to kick it down.

On the floor was Ashley. She didn’t look hurt on first glance but she was holding her knees to her chest, looking quite scared. In front of her was a woman that was holding a knife in her hand, pointing it at Gavin.

“Stay back!” She yelled. “She is my little girl! You stay back!”

“Mrs Johnson, I need you to drop the knife and raise your hands. Release the girl.” Gavin ordered, pointed the gun at the woman in case she tried to harm Ashley.

“You can’t take her from me!” The woman shrieked. “I just found her and now you want to take her from me.”

“Mrs Johnson, I read in your and your husband's file that your daughter Amber and your son Shaun died only months ago. I’m terribly sorry to hear that but you cannot take a little kid out of their life to replace them.” Gavin tried to reason.

The woman began to cry. “But she is so much like Amber. She talks like her and likes the same toys. I just want my Amber back!”

“I know that. But Ashley has a family that loves her. She has a mother and a father that love her. You know the pain of losing a child; don’t make another family feel it.” 

That’s when the woman broke down into tears. Gavin seized the opportunity and tried to get to Ashley in order to help her. But the woman stopped crying as soon as she saw that he was going for the girl and quickly jammed the knife into his shoulder. Since she had put it in from the top down, it was now lodged deep in his body.

Gavin screamed in pain and tried to get the woman away from Ashley but the woman twisted the knife. She then pushed him into the wall where he sank to the floor in pain. The woman was defenceless without the knife but she wasn’t letting Ashley go and Gavin knew that.

Breathing heavily, his vision blurry, Gavin reached for Ashley and quickly pulled her into his lap. Then he looked for the gun he had dropped in the process and it appeared as if the woman was doing the same. 

Ashley was sobbing in Gavin’s arm, stammering about how badly he was bleeding. But Gavin just shushed her and pushed her head further into his chest, not wanting her to look up and see the damage.

Suddenly he heard the click of a gun and looked up to see the woman pointing the gun at him. Ashley heard it, too and began begging the woman to not kill them.

“You will hand her over!” The woman said in a shaky voice, tears running down her face. “I just want my daughter back!”

“She’s not- not your daughter.” Gavin croaked out, holding Ashley tightly. “And you will get her over my dead fucking body.” He hissed.

At that, the woman began sobbing heavily again. “Please, she’s just like Amber. Please, I just want my daughter back. My husband understood, so why can’t you?”

Ashley sniffled and shook her head. “Don’t hurt Gavin!” She begged. “Please don’t hurt him! He’s my godfather and I love him.”

Gavin held her head tighter against his chest. “I won’t let you hurt her.”

“I won’t hurt her!” The woman snapped. “I could never hurt her.” She then pointed the gun at Gavin. “Unhand her or I will have to shoot you.”

Ashley gasped and wiggled out of Gavin’s grasp. She knew well enough that Mrs Johnson wanted her to be her daughter. And she knew well enough that she may be the only one that could deter her.

“Please, don’t hurt him!” She sobbed. “Please, mommy, don’t!”

At that, the woman stopped. She let the gun sink and eyed the girl. “A-am I your mother? Do you want to be my daughter?”

Ashley nodded and sniffed. “Only if you promise not to hurt Gavin. You have to promise not to hurt him!”

“Hands up!” 

Mrs Johnson whipped around, seeing Connor there. “Stay back!” She yelled, raising the gun in her hands. “I’ll shoot you and I’ll shoot the other officer! You won’t take her away from me!”

She then pointed the gun behind her at Gavin and moved her finger to the trigger. Within seconds, Connor charged at her and grabbed her wrist. He effectively moved her hand and pulled her away from Gavin and Ashley. 

But still, a shot rang through the air.

Ashley gasped and turned to Connor. Gavin got onto his knees and looked up. The android had taken the bullet and now blue blood was pouring out of his upper arm. He winced as he pressed a hand to the wound.

“Gavin, get Ashley out of here. I’ll take Mrs Johnson to the car.”

Gavin nodded and rose to his feet. He picked Ashley up, ignoring the knife that was still lodged in his shoulder. Taking it out could cause more bleeding and he didn’t want that. Ashley sobbed and held onto Gavin.

“Please, take me home to mommy.”

“I’m your mother! You said I was your mother!” The woman sobbed as Connor handcuffed her.

Gavin carried Ashley out of the room, hearing how Connor told the woman her rights. He quickly descended the stairs and was immediately swarmed by officers and EMTs.

“Detective, may we please look at your arm?” One of the EMTs asked.

Gavin shook his head at her. “I gotta get Ashley to the ambulance first.”

“I want to go home.” She sniffled. “I don’t want to go to the ambulance.”

“I know, sweetheart. I’ll bring you home. But you need to go to the doctor’s first. But mommy can go there with you and maybe I can come along with you.” Gavin explained, his voice weak.

“I knew you’d come.” She sobbed, burying her face in his neck. “They said no one would come for me but I-I always knew you’d come.”

Gavin sniffed and carried Ashley outside. “I’ll always come to rescue you. I’d never let anything happen to you. Your my sweetheart and I’ll protect you.” 

He whispered. He didn’t care if the other officers heard him. He didn’t care if they saw him cry. Ashley was back.

Only once he was sure that Ashley was being treated by the EMTs did he accept their help and let himself be treated. It took them a while to stabilize the knife in the wound. They wanted to get it out in the clinic to ensure that he didn’t lose too much blood.

He only looked up when he heard someone get in. It was Hank

“Hey, kid. I wanted to see if you were still alive.” He joked. “Connor’s fine. They need to get the bullet out in the hospital and get him some blue blood. He insisted on them putting you two in the same room.”

Gavin rolled his eyes and laughed. “A pyjama party in the hospital, huh? Can’t believe I’ll be there again.”

“You’ll be out by tomorrow. The EMT said if everything goes well, you can go home tomorrow.” 

Gavin nodded. Did they want him back at their house? He had really grown to like it there and didn’t really like the idea of getting back into his lonely flat. But now that Connor had taken a bullet for him, too, they were even. The android didn’t have to feel guilty anymore and as if he had to let Gavin stay. The man only swallowed against the lump in his throat.

“What happened to the man?”

“Ran to a fence and I pinned him down. He told me everything. They lost their kids in a house fire. Julien looked like their son Shaun and Hannah and Ashley like their daughter Amber. But Julien and Hannah were too different. They thought with Ashley they had found the perfect daughter again.” Hank sighed. “That’s pretty fucking sad.”

“I know." Gavin sighed. 

“Her husband stopped struggling after a while.” Hank then approached him. “Is Ashley hurt?”

Gavin shook his head. “I don’t think so. But she needs to see a doctor anyways.”

“Yes, she does.” Hank agreed. “After you two get out, we’ll go home, too.”

Gavin swallowed. Tears were rising in his eyes and he nodded. “To your guys’ home?”

“Hey, kid.” Hank walked closer to the man. “You’ll always be welcome there and not just because Connor wants you there. I don’t mind you being there, either.”

“Thanks.” Gavin whispered.

\---

Hours later, Ashley had been checked and had been allowed to go home for the night before they’d question her in the morning. Gavin had spent hours sitting upright in bed, waiting for news.

When he was finally told that she was alright, he let himself drop against the bedding. Connor looked up from the other bed.

“Isn’t it good that we can share a room?” He asked.

“It’s kind of weird that you have a blue blood IV, you know?”

“Well, hospitals now have to accommodate to humans and androids.” Connor smiled. “I’m glad you’re here with me. That way Hank could at least go home.”

“Yeah, he kind of spent too much time waiting for you to get to the room, anyways.”

“He said it’s also good for his neighbour. She loves feeding Sumo when we get caught up at work.”

“How great for her.” Gavin joked, closing his eyes.

“Someone’s tired.” The android in the bed next to him joked. “Get some rest. If anything happens, I’ll be there.”

Gavin wanted to argue. He wanted to tell Connor that he didn’t have to care about him anymore. But the android just smiled at him, his warm eyes ever so comforting. And Gavin was just so tired. He figured he could talk to Connor in the morning. For now, he would rest, knowing that his goddaughter was safe, Connor was alive and everything would be back to normal.

Gavin had to try to ignore the deep sadness that overcame him at the thought of everything going back to the way it was before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will probably be one of two more chapters to this.  
> I hope you liked it so far. Leave a Kudos or a Comment if you did and want to ^^  
> See you ^^


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor and Gavin have a little heart to heart in the hospital.

When Gavin awoke the next morning, Connor was already awake. The detective turned his head to look at the android. His shoulder was hurting again, the effect of the pain killers obviously worn off. He blinked his eyes a few times and saw that Connor was reading. He was reading a paperback copy of “Frankenstein”. Gavin had to chuckle a little, like the fact that Connor had actually taken his advice on what books to read.

Hearing his chuckle, Connor quickly shut the book and turned his head towards Gavin. “Good morning, Gavin. Did you have a good nights rest? I stayed up for a little while to see if you were asleep. Then I entered sleep mode. But I stayed awake after the nurses first checked on us in the morning. I’ve been reading.”

“I actually slept well for someone that got stabbed yesterday. But I guess the pain killers make you tired.” He shrugged as best as he could.

“You got hurt again.” Connor sighed. “Well, I guess I’ll just keep getting better and better at changing bandages.” He joked.

“You don’t really have to do that.” Gavin mumbled. “And listen, I can stay at home from now on. I mean, I’ve been staying at your house for too long now. I should get back to living on my own.”

“What?” Connor was now sitting up fully. “Gavin, you can always stay with us. Does Hank not want you to? I’ll talk to him. Or was someone being rude to you for staying with Hank and me? Was it Adam from a couple of days ago? I’ll deal with that. You know I can.”

“That’s really not it, Connor.” Gavin sighed. “You took a bullet for me now. You don’t have to feel obligated to take care of me anymore. I’m a fucking asshole. You shouldn’t have to fucking put up with me every damn day and surely not in the comfort of your own damn home.”

Connor eyed him for a second and then slowly rose from the bed. He was still connected to an IV and carefully pulled it along. Then he sat down on Gavin’s bed, smiling at him gently.

“Connor, don’t do that! For fuck's sake, you’re supposed to stay in bed.” Gavin chided him.

“I’m fine.” Connor smiled. “Listen, Gavin. I don’t know what is wrong now but I can assure you that both Hank and I want you there. Sure, Hank and you may not always get along but I think you two are just like that. None of us mind you being there. You can stay as long as you want to.”

“Connor, I-”

“Don’t interrupt me.” Connor quickly cut Gavin off. “You were an asshole to me and nothing can change that. But that’s in the past and you grew so much as a person. Now you’re kind to me, defend me and even saved my life. I got to know you and you got to know us. We’re glad to have you with us. We really do care for you.”

Tears were running down Gavin’s cheeks and he pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes to stop them. “You’re just saying that because you feel fucking bad for me! I’m fine on my own! I’ve always been fine on my own!”

“Yes, I know that you’re fine on your own. But that doesn’t mean that accepting other people into your life and letting them care for you isn’t okay.” Connor explained. “Gavin, why don’t you want to stay with us? You were so happy with us. You trusted us and we even shared a bed. We don’t mind you there, Gavin.”

“I just don’t deserve all of this. You are so nice and I'm a fucking asshole.”

“You changed, Gavin. You were an asshole and made mistakes but you learned from them. I’m the last person to deny someone to grow past their old selves and become a better version of themselves. I’m not angry at you.” Connor took one of Gavin’s hand. “You deserve all of this.”

“That’s the thing, Connor. I know I don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve your kindness or forgiveness.” 

“It’s not up to you to decide if you deserve my kindness or not. That’s up to me to decide.” The android smiled gently. “To err is human, forgiveness is divine. I forgive you, Gavin. I want to give you the chance to become a better person.”

Gavin sniffled a bit and sighed. “You’re not letting up on this, are you? You’re fucking sure that you forgave me and that you want me to be in your life.”

“I’m 100% certain.” Connor smiled. “I make mistakes, too. Making mistakes is human and it’s just a part of what makes me human. Hank forgives me for my mistakes, too.”

Gavin took a shaky breath. “Thank you, Connor.”

“No need to thank me, meat-bag.” The android grinned. “We can leave the hospital today, I thing.”

“You’ve read the book I’ve recommended to you.” Gavin smiled. “Did you like it?”

“I’m not all the way through. But it was good.” Connor explained. “I loved the narrative structure and the way that the creature learns about being alive and a human. It’s just sad that he needs to learn about it all on his own. He had to teach himself how to speak, too.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty sad.” Gavin nodded. “Guess that’s why I felt a certain connection to him. But lucky for you that you had Hank with you to learn about being a human.”

“Yes, you’re right. I’m very thankful for that.” Connor then started to play with his own fingers, fiddling them around. “It’s so strange to me that I got sad when Victor’s friend died, isn’t it? It’s just a character in a book.”

“Books are written to make you feel things. You empathized with the characters in the book and their death makes you sad. Empathy is a human emotion, Connor –well not solely human but it’s an emotion humans feel.” Gavin explained, a small smile gracing his lips as he saw how emotions were still a little hard for Connor to fully understand.

The android let out an exasperated sigh and then let his head drop onto Gavin’s shoulder. “Yes, emotions are hard and exhausting.”

Gavin smiled awkwardly. This was the first time Connor had completely confided into him. Connor was telling him about his feelings. He wasn’t protecting him or being there for him but he was confiding in Gavin. He was supposed to be there for Connor now. He slowly started to pet the android’s back.

“I know that. But trust me, even for humans emotions are hard and exhausting. Not always wanting to feel a certain way is very human.” Gavin explained and Connor had to laugh a little at that.

“Well, I guess I’m becoming more human each day.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Gavin smiled a bit. “And we get out of here today, huh? I hate hospital food.”

“I don’t eat but it didn’t look too appetizing.” Connor agreed. He then chuckled a bit. “At your rate, they will have a personalized mug ready for you the next time you get here. It’ll say ‘Numer 1 Patient’ or something like that.”

“Ah, I see the tin-can is in a joking mood today.” Gavin smirked. “At least I don’t lick weird substances on the floor.”

“It’s for analysing.” Connor insisted.

The detective chuckled at that. “Excuses, excuses.”

\---

When Gavin and Connor were finally able to leave the hospital, Hank picked them up. The three of them made their way to the front door.

One of the nurses that had checked on them in the morning approached Connor. “Goodbye, I hope I don’t see you back here again even if you were nice.” She laughed. She then looked at Gavin. “Goodbye. You weren’t as nice.”

“I was in pain.” The man defended himself. “Someone rammed a fucking knife into my shoulder.”

Hank rolled his eyes a little and sighed. “Goodbye, we’re working on his attitude.”

“Oh, very funny.” Gavin grumbled.

“Why are you so irritable?” Connor asked a little concerned.

“I’m just not too fond of the idea of having to interrogate the culprits.” He shrugged.

“I did that already together with Tina.” Hank explained nonchalantly, walking up to the car. “I mean, I was at work today while you two were lounging about in the hospital.”

“Well, we were injured after all.” Connor explained. “Had the bullet struck further left they might even have had to crack me open.”

“Good thing they didn’t.” Hank squeezed Connor’s shoulder a little, careful not to press on his injured arm too hard. “Wouldn’t want to stand by and watch them crack you open to doctor around on you, son.”

“I’m very durable.” Connor chuckled. “You really don’t need to worry about me, dad.”

“I still do.” Hank shrugged. “You can’t tell me what to do.”

Gavin got into the backseat once they had made it to the car. He looked out the window at the overcast sky and sighed a little. He really didn’t want to further intrude on Hank and Connor’s family-life. Even if he wished he could at least be a little part of it. Once they got to Hank’s house, he should just pack his things and move back to his flat, his lonely flat. He tried to not let his feelings show but Connor -being the detective android he was- found out right away.

“What’s wrong? Are you in pain? You can’t have any more pain killers for at least four more hours. I’m sorry.” Connor turned in the passenger seat. “But maybe when we’re home we can try to lay you down and get you into a position that takes weight and pressure off your shoulder."

“You guys can just drop me off at my apartment to be bluntly honest.”

“Gavin, we talked about this.” Connor sighed.

“It’s not about that, though.”

“Then please do enlighten me what this is about.” Connor urged. “Gavin, may I be completely honest with you right now?” When Gavin nodded Connor nodded, too. “If you don’t tell me what’s wrong, I will never be able to understand what the heck is going on.”

“You two are a family and I really don’t want to intrude.” He sighed.

Hank sighed a little and turned towards Gavin. “Okay, now you listen to me, kid. And I mean really listen. I know you never fucking listen to people but just do it right now.” He nodded. “You’re not intruding. I think it’s actually logically impossible to intrude on us if we fucking invited you in. We don’t mind you being there. I think Sumo even likes you being there. You can always return to your flat if you want to but don’t do it because you think we wouldn’t want you there.”

Gavin looked at Hank and nodded. “So can I stay over tonight?”

Hank nodded. “Sure but only if you don’t mind me stopping to get us something to eat on the way.”

Connor looked up. “He may not mind but I do! I thought I was going to make you something healthy.”

“How about I get a sandwich with little meat and a lot of salad?” Hank tried to reason. “And cheese of course.”

“Alright, that’s not so bad.” Connor leaned back and smiled. “Gavin, you should eat something a little more healthy too. You just got out of the hospital.”

“I got there for being stabbed, though.” Gavin argued.

Connor began to laugh. “Why does everyone have to argue with me all the time?”

“Because you argue back.” Hank smirked a little as he drove off the parking lot.

Gavin listened as Connor and Hank started a bit of friendly bickering in the front seat. Maybe he wasn’t intruding on them. He would surely get back to his own apartment in the next few days but now he was welcome to visit the two of them. Gavin smiled to himself and looked out the window, seriously happy about finally having two people that actually wanted him there. And he vowed to never give them a reason to throw him out.

Gavin had finally found someone that cared for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it. I'll add another shorter as an epilogue but that was basically it.  
> I really, really hope you liked it. Leave a Kudos or Comment if you want to. ^^


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little epilogue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is rather short and just a little epilogue. Connor gets a present for Gavin and that's basically it.

It’s been two weeks since the events at the Johnson residence. Ashley had been questioned with her mother present. She had been able to help piece together the story and fill in the gaps left in the Johnsons’ statement. After her help was no longer needed, she was free to go home.

Her mother Abigail was quick to have her see a child psychologist and Ashley wasn’t against the idea of talking to someone about her time at the Johnsons. But she seemed to be dealing alright with what had happened. But the psychologist was very certain that she’d be able to work past the things that happened to her.

Gavin was terribly happy when he heard these news. Once he had found that Ashley was physically fine, he had started to worry about her mental health. But if the psychologist android Amy said that his goddaughter would be fine, he would believe it, especially after Connor assured him that Amy was good at calculating these types of things.

He was now living in his apartment again. His wounds were healing nicely and Connor had agreed that he should be fine on his own. Still, the android insisted on changing the bandages for Gavin because he claimed that would be easier. And Gavin had to admit that it really was easier.

Now he was doing paperwork after Fowler had told him that if he wanted to be back at work already he’d have to take things slow. He’d spent the whole morning filling out reports. Connor approached him in the afternoon just as Gavin was packing up to go home.

“Are you heading home?” Connor asked in his usual friendly yet polite way.

“Yes, why are you asking? If you need help why don’t you ask Chris? He still has a couple of hours to go.” Gavin suggested.

“I just wanted to ask whether or not you are home tonight.” 

“Yeah, I guess I will be. Why are you asking? What’s going on?”

“I just wanted to ask if I could drop by. I’d like to keep you some company.” The android smiled a bit.

Gavin shrugged and flung his jacket over his shoulder. “If you want to, you can come by. But I don’t know if it’d be that interesting.”

“Don’t worry, it will be.” Connor smiled. “Maybe I’ll get Hank to tag along. I actually have a little surprise I wanted to show you later on.”

“A surprise?” Gavin shook his head. “You don’t have to buy me anything.”

“Don’t worry. It wasn’t too expensive. And I think my surprise will be nice.” Connor smiled. “Just wait; I’ll come by at around 6 pm.”

“Okay, I see you there.” Gavin waved his hand once. “At least my damn flat won’t be as lonely tonight.”

“You can always come to us if you want some company.”

Gavin just waved his hand dismissively and then left. Connor smiled a little, knowing that his surprise would make Gavin pretty happy. 

\---

Gavin had already settled on the couch after eating some leftovers for dinner when Connor rang the doorbell. He knew it was Connor because he had come to know that the android would always ring the doorbell twice in quick succession. Maybe it was to explicitly show people who knew him that it was indeed him at the door.

The detective groaned a little and got up, shuffling to the door. When he opened it, something was immediately shoved into his arms. Before he could register what it was, he heard a soft meowing. When he looked down he saw that the object that had been shoved into his hands was a pet carrier.

“What?” Was Gavin’s first and not very eloquent response.

“You told me time and time again how lonely your flat was, so I got you a little kitten to keep you some company.” Connor smiled.

Hank behind him nodded. “We also got you a bowl, a litter box and some food. That should be enough for tonight until you can buy some more stuff for her.”

“Her?” Gavin asked and put the carrier down. “Come inside so I can let her out.”

Connor nodded and closed the door behind Hank and him. “Do you like it?”

“The gift?” Gavin asked and knelt down, opening the box. “Yes, I like it. You know had it been any other animal it’d been more like a white elephant kind of situation but I like cats.”

“Yeah, we’ve realized that.” Hank laughed and pointed at the pullover Gavin was wearing. It was the cat one that Connor and Hank had given him for his birthday.

Connor’s LED flared yellow and then went back to blue. “I just researched the metaphor of a white elephant. Could it be that you by any means read ‘Hills Like White Elephants’ by Ernest Hemingway.”

“Yeah, I did. That’s where I found out about the metaphor. But in the story, it’s not just a pet.” Gavin chuckled. 

"I never knew you liked reading that much." Connor mused.

"Yeah, it's just something I do before I go to sleep since I don't have much else to do." Gavin explained. “But I like it. It’s not a white elephant kind of gift.”

The android clapped his hands once. “I’m glad you like it!”

The cat was currently rubbing up on Gavin’s leg and Hank looked at it. “You got a name for her?”

Gavin picked up the cat who seemed quite content with that and let herself be cuddled and stroked. He examined her and then saw her white feet that contrasted to her otherwise darker fur. “I’ll call her Mittens.”

Hank immediately face-palmed and laughed. “What else did I expect from you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean, old man?” Gavin held Mittens closer and narrowed his eyes.

Connor stepped up to him and smiled. “You need to buy her some toys and a cat bed tomorrow. And maybe some more food.”

“I will, don’t worry.” Gavin smiled and put the cat back down who went back to exploring her new home. “Lucky for you that pets are allowed by the landlord.”

“I checked on that already.” Connor smiled. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten her. She’s got all her shots and she’s sterilized. But maybe you should go to the vet anyway to see if she needs anything else done.”

“I will.” Gavin repeated and then smiled. “Wanna sit down? I could get us something to drink.”

“Sure.” Hank nodded and sat down on the couch. “You were watching the news?”

“Yeah, didn’t know what else to do.” Gavin went into the kitchen.

Connor smiled. “Now we're here. And we’ll keep you company.”

Gavin hid his smile behind the refrigerator door as he got out two beers for himself and Hank. He heard Connor talk to the kitten and Hank talking to Connor about the kitten. Gavin would be a great owner and he was glad to have some life in his flat now and he was also glad to have Connor and Hank visiting.

Gavin was finally not lonely anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it. The end.  
> I really, really hope everyone that read this story liked it and enjoyed it. I want to say thank you to everyone that left a Kudos, Comment or that Bookmarked this.   
> If you enjoyed it, feel free to give me a Kudos or Comment. I'd really appreciate that.   
> Again, I hope you liked it. See you soon. ^^


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